First recording (1969)

Album title: First recording (1969) - Lieber Uecker (1972)
Title: First recording (1969) (Side 1, Excerpt)
Publisher: Wiens Laden & Verlag, Berlin
Date: 1969, publ. 1993
Medium: audio-cassette
Edition: 100 n. & s.

The piece, First Recording, from 1969, is a sound work by Dorothy Iannone, which was published on audio cassette by Wiens Verlag in 1993. The cassette was published in an edition of 100 copies, all signed and numbered by Iannone. The audio piece has a length of 46 minutes and 50 seconds; here you can hear an excerpt of the first 17 minutes of the recording. It is a mixture of singing and speaking, recorded by Iannone himself. Likely, the recording is not spontaneous but rather a deliberate recording by Iannone, as her chanting sounds like a concentrated recital. No instruments are heard. In between, however, her chanting is accompanied by a rhythmic tapping.

The text she sings or speaks is partly in English and French but also in German. The transitions from one language to the next are very sudden and unpredictable. There is an override in the recording when Iannone's speech singing gets louder. No harmonious-sounding melody can be discerned but rather a kind of sad, melancholic lament. In between, Iannone tells stories and fairy tales in her chanting, such as the fairy tale of the Lorelei. Iannone herself describes her artistic works as a journey to unconditional love, characterised by the longing for ecstatic unity:

"A description of me and a description of my work wouldn't be that different. A longing for ecstatic unity. A journey towards unconditional love. A celebration and a stubborn insistence on the goodness of Eros, yes, but also works with or about my friends, other artist friends, my mother, the children of my friends, women's condition, men's condition. Giving everything I can - singing, making films and spontaneous, never documented performances, painting, drawing, making games, furniture and books, writing songs and texts. Creating a story through words, colours, sounds, images, and a propensity for veracity." (https://flash---art.com/article/dorothy-iannone/)

JE