Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The sound of paint drying?

I’ve been pondering this phrase from my last post. I know it's usual to talk about ‘watching paint dry’ to indicate that something is boring. E.G. Watching golf is like watching paint dry. And watching paint dry is boring because there isn’t actually anything to see. (Although I expect there is actually something to see if one uses technology to magnify and speed up the process.) However, for something to be ‘watchable’ there needs to be some activity that can be observed in real time. (Like the telly?)

In my last post I talked about Lisbeth's daily progress log in terms of "listening to paint dry". My contention, in this post, is that 'listening' to paint dry would be similar to 'watching' paint dry: no discernible sounds audible in real time.

Do you think paint, drying, makes a sound?

According to this site, you can see paint drying via the 'paint-drying-webcam' and hear a musical interpretation of what it sounds like………………

OR
You can visit this site: SOUND+VISIONx5 = “Watch Paint Dry”
From Lester’s Journal, June 14, 2005:
"What an amazing experience! In a mere 30 minutes, John Climenhage came up with a painting on a piece of plywood that matched the avant-garde nature of the evening. It is definitely there, on the top left hand corner of the painting, he's painted the screen on which the live image of the painting itself is projected."

OR
You could read the book: The Sound of Paint Drying by John Hegley, in which John writes about a trip he made to France to paint a scene once depicted by his father. He muses upon his trip, painting generally, romance and blancmange.

I rest my case……….if I had one

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