“My contribution to the Slibreeks consists of two one-hour minute-grids, in which I describe the sounds of birds in a period of the year in which the energy of the birds is at its peak.
The location for my observations was the head of the Island Schouwen, an area where the beach meets the bush.
In order to be able to approach sound as autonomous energy, I stripped my language of the styles and tools which are often used in describing sound: sound imitating words, words derived from seeing, words conveying human feelings, poetic / expressive phrases, technical sound and musical terms, similes and metaphors.
Wherever possible, I replaced words of Latin or French origins with words that I felt were more descriptive in nature.
These restrictions and interventions were important in my attempt to come closer to the fundamental nature of both language and sound through listening and writing.”
An experimental text; a combination of diary entries, prose and scientific observations of birdlife at a specific location, the author not only documents a specific moment at a specific time and place, he also engages with the divide between our language and our senses and sets out to formulate a type of language that adequately captures our sensory impressions.
Curated by Marinus van Dijke, text in Dutch, soft cover in dust jacket, 15 x 10,5 cm, 38 not numbered pages, ed/500, no.143 in the series of Slibreeks, Middelburg (Vlissingen) 2013
ISBN: 978-90-6354-209-2
