Tristan Tzara's Paris

Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds

By Daniel Raymond. ""In his publication of the Dada Manifesto from 1918, Tristan Tzara wrote that, 'Advertising and business are also elements of poetry.' Tzara's words form the basis of my experimentation within this Sound Art project. I have applied Dada techniques usually associated with image-making to create an aural and sonic presentation that examines the ambiguous nature of modern, urban environments and the dramatic effect of mass-marketing.

Exploring the possibilities of collage I have appropriated advertising slogans and catchphrases to create a form of hybrid poetry that alludes to the uncertainties of modern living. Authoritative in tone, these reimaginings ask questions but provide no clear answers. This form of psychogeographical play enables me as an individual to negotiate through my urban surroundings and make sense in an increasingly uncertain world.

I have also utilized collage techniques in my handling of the Paris soundscape provided by Cities and Memory. Rather than working with my own original field recording, I again felt it important to adopt the traditons of Dada artists such as, Hausmann and Höch applying their two dimensional working methods to a piece of sound material. The appropriation of sound elements in the work enabled me to recontextualise, to play with chance and create new meaning, to challenge the assumed and offer a varying worldview. I cut and sliced soundbites to create a monotonous rhythm, an anthem for the harsh realities of the urban everyday.

My intention in the work was to capture the rhythms and confusions of a contemporary urban setting, to explore a specific point of view and offer up a personal and poetic response to this evergrowing ambiguity."