I’ve been thinking a lot recently about uncertainty and its uses. Working with stella* on our performance about astrophysics, it occurred to us that uncertainty can be a powerful creative tool. Scientists have to maintain a healthy level of uncertainty so that they keep questioning hypotheses and generating increasingly rigorous investigations. As artists, we also feed off uncertainty. Curiosity is another word for the same drive, perhaps?
I’ve also been listening to aural uncertainty: the space between words and the sounds of hesitation and thought. We verbalise this process often, but it is the part of conversation that our brains, or ears, edit out. In response, I have made a five minute piece using the gaps and umms cut from a 25 minute conversation with a colleague. Have a listen:
sl grange 