4 – 18 February, 2013
From Mo Tat to Tung O – two weeks of walking, recording and discovery on Lamma Island near Hong Kong. To be continued.

Arrival. Insect Night. My first recording on Lamma from the terrace of my apartment above The Bay restaurant. The sigh of the sea is a constant companion on all island nights.

“Beaches. My life with all its memories are filled with them. I lose myself as I walk the glistening strand between high and low tide. It is an in between space in an in between space. This wet stretch between land and sea is the true in between space. The true beach. Among the people of Oceania it is a sacred space, a Tapu (taboo) space; an unresolved space where things can happen, where things can be made to happen. It is a space of transformation. It is a space of crossings. From a beach it is possible to see beyond one’s horizons. Beaches breed expansiveness. My beaches do anyway!”   (Greg Dening-Beach Crossings)

Bamboo Tamboo. Onibaba a film by Japanese film director Kaneto Shindo who died in 2012 aged 100 was shot entirely in a field of bamboo and rushes. The sound of the bamboo and rushes moving in the wind reminded me of this classic 1960s Samurai horror film.

Sea Dogs and Beach Birds.
“Dog watch / transmission / antenna patterns / try to listen…how well have we used the time?”

The ‘other’ world. The modern world. The ‘convenience’ world. The public toilet for ‘weekend islanders’ sounding like contemporary computer music.

The old lady sweeping the sea. One of the sound triggers in my life. I know I am in the tropics when I hear the swish swish of palm leaf and woven palm leaf brooms here combined with the sigh of the morning sea on sand and early morning folk…human and other species.

Limping Men, Bicycles, Water and Silent Dogs.

I am standing at the site of the original Yung Shue Ha village recording the water flowing from the spring at this historic site. A European man shuffles past me. He has one foot bandaged and is listening to a small transistor radio broadcasting in English. A Chinese man passes on a bicycle. He rings his bell twice. Another Chinese local person (I have seen him before) passes me. He is physically challenged and has trouble walking. He is pulling a suitcase with wheels. A dog appears and runs towards him. It had obviously heard or sensed him coming. The man stops, drops his suitcase and greets the dog, talking to it. They move on. The water flows. The birds sing. As they have for centuries here.

Strong Birds. The Ferry and the Sea.

“Days are full / of music and symphony / incredible music / country silence and seas / the voyage is music”
( In Moments of Reverie-Mike Cooper from Radio Paradise)

Leaving. The Ferry. To be continued.
“The sound grew louder. Revenant abstraction. Lightning bunker sound. A spluttering roar. Whining. Ringing.” ( Torch Song-Mike Cooper from Radio Paradise)

………………………………

12 February, 2013
They met …

Mike Cooper, photo taken by Edwin Lo

Edwin Lo is an artist from Hong Kong. Through different explorations on sound, Lo tries to develop his own philosophy and language on sound and listening: thinking sound as an object of desire, as haunting memories and experiences.

………………………………

16 February, 2013
On the 7th day of Lunar New Year, The Library by soundpocket and friends shared a day in Mo Tat.

We… walked from Mo Tat pier to the temple at Tung O.
………walked alone at 10/15 minute distance from each other.
………walked slowly with no talking.
………listened to dead silence.
………listened closely to the orange flowers.
………played the metal instrument quietly and listened to this special spot.
………heard the bamboo speaking.
………listened to the sea.
………listened to the wind in the reeds
………listened by the spring water to the left of the shrine.
………paid homage.

Mike Cooper / Brisbane / Australia
March 11, 2013

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…

2013 年2月4 至 18 日
由模達到東澳
南丫島的兩周 -散步、記錄及發現。待續。

抵步。蟲鳴之夜。我的第一段錄音是在南丫島星浪餐廳樓上，我房子的陽台所收錄。海洋的嘆息是島嶼每個晚上的忠誠夥伴。

「海灘，充滿我生命的所有回憶。我迷失自我，如走過潮汐漲退之間閃爍的岸邊。這是過渡空間的過渡空間。陸地與海洋之間的潮濕連綿地帶是真正的過渡空間。真正的海灘對大洋洲的人來說，是一個可怕的空間，一個有禁忌的空間；一個甚麼事情都可能發生的曖昧空間，任何事情都可以於此發生。這是轉變的空間，是過渡的空間。在海灘，每一個人都可以超越自己的視野。海灘使人驟然開朗。至少我的海灘如是！」

-格雷格．德寧 《橫越海灘》

竹鼓。日本導演新藤兼人的作品《鬼婆》主要取景於竹林和長滿蒲草的地方。竹子與蒲草在風中搖曳的聲音，令我想起這部六十年代的經典武士驚慄電影。新藤於2012年逝世，享年一百歲。

海洋的狗與沙灘的鳥。
「狗在看/傳輸/天線場型/嘗試聆聽……我們可曾好好善用過時間?」

「另一個」世界。現代的世界。「便利」的世界。為「周末島民」而設的公共洗手間，聽起來就像當代電腦音樂。

老婦眺望海洋。一種觸動我生命的聲音。當我聽見棕櫚葉及由棕櫚葉編成的掃帚沙沙作嚮，清晨海洋的嘆息伴隨砂粒，以及晨運客……人類和其他生物，我便知道自己身處熱帶。

跛足男子、單車、水與沉默的狗。
我站在歷史悠久的榕樹下村原址，記錄此處泉水湧出來的聲音。一個歐洲男子曳步越過我。他一隻腳包紮著繃帶，聽著小型晶體管收音機的英語廣播節目。一個騎單車的中國男子越過我。他按了兩次響鈴。另一位我曾見過的本地中國男人也越我而過。他行動不便，不良於行。他拉著有輪子的行李箱。一隻狗出現，跑向他，顯然是聽到或感到他的到來。那男人停下來，放下行李箱逗牠、與牠說話。他們往前走。水在流動。鳥兒歌唱。數百年如是。

強健的鳥。渡輪與海。
「日子充滿了/音樂和交響樂/非凡的音樂/郊野的靜寂和海/航程就是音樂」
《幻想時刻》-來自廣播天堂的Mike Cooper

離開。渡輪。未完待續。
「聲音漸大。抽象的亡靈。閃電擊中碉堡的聲音。氣急敗壞的呼嘯。哀鳴。鈴響。」
《火把之歌》-來自廣播天堂的Mike Cooper

………………………………

2013 年2月12 日
他們相遇…

Mike Cooper, 羅潤庭攝

羅潤庭，聲音藝術家、田野錄音工作者。畢業於香港城市大學創意媒體學院。探索聲音的種種，從而嘗試建立對聲音的哲理與語法，將聲音看待為慾望的投射，揮之不去的記憶與經驗。

………………………………

2013 年2月16日
在農曆大年初七，聲音圖書館與一眾朋友在模達分享了週末的一天

我們…由模達碼頭走到東澳灣的寺廟
………在相隔10/15分鐘的距離下，徑自行走
………不說話，只是慢慢地走著
………聽死亡的靜默
………聽橙色的花朵
………靜靜地敲打金屬器物，聆聽此地的反嚮
………聽竹子的話語
………聽海
………聽風中的蘆葦
………聽春水往左邊的寺廟流
………心懷敬意

Mike Cooper/布里斯本/澳洲
2013年3月11日

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