RAW MATERIALS

Based on personal memories reaching way back into time, Raw Materials creates a resonant patchwork with fragments of field recordings originating from divergent cities like Fribourg (Switzerland), Barcelona or Beirut. With a pitch-black image as canvas – a technique that actively shifts the attention towards the sound – snow-white text lines appear one by one in typewriter style. These are Bennett’s very personal, often emotionally charged memories related to the sounds we get to hear, cherished occurrences from travels and the life on the road. By referring to the actual facts, Raw Materials uncovers the hidden structure in the otherwise so abstract soundscape: the story behind the sounds is revealed. Nevertheless, Bennett transcends the anecdotic register by expanding his personal reflections into essayistic statements about the value of sound in general. Can we listen to a sound archive as a personal diary, as fiction or as legal evidence? Is the maker a listener, an actor or an author?