01.09.21 – Patrick Francke – Iceland Miniatures for Inga Martel – 32:49 – 320 kbps
During my travels to and in Iceland, I was repeatedly reminded of the film “Despair” by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. My desire to immerse myself in a peaceful environment for some time and also my naïve projections, unexpectedly and drastically caught up with reality.
Hundreds of thousands of people visit Iceland every year for comparatively short trips. Many escape their ecologically and aesthetically depleted places of origin to seek the salvation of unspoiltness on the island. One could get the impression they are driven by the belief that they are entitled to it – as if someone else were cheating them out of this salvation at home, that there is no connection between them and the cause of the condition of the ecosystems there.
From this desire, the natural history and ecology of Iceland, but also the lifeworlds of the inhabitants are often ignored. All irritations are suppressed in order to be able to hold on to the sentimental image of the magical, untouched island. To this end, some of these holidaymakers may even expect the islanders to kindly maintain it in a state that does not stand in the way of their projections – a strange, structurally colonial habitus.
Oscillating between the ecosystem of Iceland, the Iceland of its inhabitants and the Iceland of my expectations, I tried to focus entirely on the sounds themselves, during the recording and organisational processes for this piece.
I didn’t want to give much room to my preconceptions about how sonographic sketches of the island should sound. I simply wanted to forget them.
Therefore, the Iceland Miniatures can be understood as reconstructed subjective, sonic impressions. They are based on long listening sessions which preceded the actual sound recordings as well as my notes of the respective places.
