Composer's Outrageby T Observer •

Wednesday October 16, 2002 at 11:00 PMThis is powerful stuff. The composer's textures lend a sense of drama and immediacy that underlines and supports the drama and terrible reality in the words and voices of the witnesses. Too bad Mr. Turner is not also a film maker.

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New Genre?
by Jim • Sunday November 24, 2002 at 12:01 PM
Seattle


Turner’s latest composition “i-witness” melds music and journalism into an emotionally and politically powerful piece that may be the forerunner of a new musical genre, “newsic.” Is there an “i-witness II” in the works?

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"This is powerful stuff"by ted...(CFUV radio) victoria •

 Thursday October 17, 2002 at 12:46 AMLike the guy above me said. texure & a richness only poverty can generate. I played the file live thursday to a live audiance. Other D-jays will most likely do the same. In fact, many listen to my show via the internet. (wow thats were the file came from) Mr Tunner. Please don't do things for the money of it. Your file sounds like a work of love. That sir, is a quality money can't buy. -------- PS ------------ I you do cash in..... Buy the freaking Woodwards building, and give it to the poor. Imagine the headlines....? PR worth billions.

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A keen sense of dispair
by Jay • Tuesday November 19, 2002 at 06:18 PM
nyxjay@shaw.ca


Startling,

It is difficult to imagine the squat at Woodwards without Turner's music sounding the basenote of dispair which has driven the protestors to their temprary home.

Eloquent

Jay

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Police Brutality Inhumane
by Fred Flores • Thursday November 21, 2002 at 01:07 PM
fflo@ista.ca


How sad to hear so many witness reports on the excessive use of force by Vancouver Police.
the i witness composition should be aired at the first meeting of the new municipal council. The Police department should be made to account for its shameful behavior.

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A Significant Layer of Understanding
by Brian Gold • Wednesday November 27, 2002 at 12:07 AM
goldism@home.com


Turner is a misunderstood genius with the bravado of a bull and the dignity of a prince.

As with any event, there are many layers within that must be understood on their own before the entire event, or its significance can be understood. Turner does not choose to try and make the larger determination. He does not provide an opinion or an interpretation.

All that is accomplished, ultimately, is that he provides another layer that has to be deconstructed by us all. But the layer provided is significant in that it is different from what we already have. There is no shortage of official police comment usually delivered by the official police commentarist in one of our corporately owned media. Read between the lines, and spend your time searching and you will find the squatters perspective as well. In every case, they have been interpreted and edited for our public consumption. We can be aware of the inherent bias and we can even be conscious of the fact that there is likely a different perspective that has been ignored or intentionally cut. The Turner genius is manifested through his lack of editing.

Allowing the interviews to play out for long sequences versus the 10 second sound bite is revealing. We are finally allowed to see the tapes that are usually left on the cutting floor or scurried away ending up tied to a brick at the bottom of the Fraser River.

We discover alot of what we expected and those notions are strengthened in utter disgust as police brutality and lack of humanity can never be condoned. We are saddened at learning that somehow the area around an old department store on the street is where a single pregnant young woman can feel comfortable.

We also see the other side quite vivdly when some of the comments and beliefs expressed can only be described as insane and capable of being delivered only by assholes.

I am left thinking that these events, all politics aside, occur in the way that they do based on an inability for both sides to communicate and understand each other because they just are not speaking the same language. They simply come from two different epistemologies, and I hope I am using the word correctly.

By not editing, we are also left to hear the sounds comprising the background noise at the scene. It, without saying anything, says a lot. It is haunting and adds another dimension. It also helps eliminate our distrust thinking that Turner created the interview transcipts in advance and hired readers as he would have had to create that whole background texture which would be very difficult to do. The interviewer's style of remaining silent and allowing the comments to come is also worthy of gratitude as it complements the whole concept of genius through lack of editing and lack of interpretation.

Perhaps as important to this piece as the aforementioned is the music. It is creepy, but brilliant. Moving, captivating, spellbounding and ghastly (in a good way). I suppose you can make the argument that Turner is adding his opinion through his manufacturing of a soundtrack but I discount it entirely. Without this music, we are left with long periods of quiet, some long pauses between comments and 28 minutes of speech. We would all fall asleep and the comments would not be heard. Had he set it to some silly happy pop song, we would have turned it off. The music is motivating and makes you want to listen, and to pay attention. Simply brilliant.

Ultimately, Turner does not complete the picture but never did try to do that. But like adding another layer of clothing to keep warn, he has added that extra layer to a greater understanding. I am left wondering what it would sound like to listen to 28 minutes of interviews with the police officers involved while protecting their anonymity. Someone should try and do it although probably impossible. Maybe someone should cconvince Turner that they have embarked on the project so that we can get access to more of the tunes as he is the only digital musician who can pull it off.

Let us all hope that Turner does not soon have the ability to come up with a sequel to this project. We do not need any more violence, and a master opus should not be sequelled, unless it is The Godfather.

Thank you Turner for distributing this important layer of understanding. Thank you.

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finally something new
by alex bruhanski • Saturday December 14, 2002 at 01:50 PM

As audio-art , Turner's piece stands on its own merit-unique, moving ,compelling and as visually evocative as the classic great radio dramas of the '40s, and as powerfully moving and imagisticly shockiing as the WWII radio reports transmitting the gritty horror and glory, sound bite by exploding sound bite- into the safe homes of middle America, a fascinating amalgm of John Cage meets Edward R.Murrow in the twenty first century to create this new entity-call it *newsic* or *docu-art* or *composition in D-Minor* or whatever Bobby wants to call it, it's powerful and it works.
I'm impressed by the fact that though the piece is profoundly moving, it is not manipulative, in that it does not push the listener to a predetermined social ,political or emotional conclusion.
Though the piece stands on its own as accoustic art, there is tremendous collaborative potential with other forms such as sculpture and/or photographic and/or video installation, dance and/or theatre. Yay Bobby. Well done. I congratulate you.

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