Water Meets Land

Today’s track is a piece of electronic music Scot created in 1986 while he was an Artist–in-Residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts. I’ve talked a little bit about this experience. (Who Influences Who-03/24/09). Because this residency happened during the first official year of the center’s existence, things were still kind of wild and wooly. There were a couple of artists who never even came out, but we were there all the time. Scot took over the entire attic space of the building that housed the resident artists’ studios—several thousand square feet (I’m guessing). Our headquarters were in the middle peak of the attic, with a set of three arched windows that looked quite like the captain's quarters circa 1803. The view was magical. From up so high we looked over the whole wild canyon to the right and down past a huge tide pool, filled with aquatic birds, on down to Jade Beach on the left.

We spent massive amounts of time on the beach, nestled in behind some tree stump; trying to find anything leeward. We combed the beach and criss-crossed the headland bluffs. While we were in San Francisco, I was aware of living ‘on the edge of the Western World.’ When we’d go down to the beach (which was often) I would always wonder how the water knew when and where to stop (for the most part)? How was it that this huge--huger than the trillion dollar figures people are throwing around these days—knows to stop right there. That day after day you could go back and that the water will stop there at basically the same point; my point being, I guess that there are these edges—points where things do indeed stop and something else starts.

Today’s track is taken from a larger piece called “Headland Response, Parts II & III. In Part II, we hear the comforting swish of the waves. Things do bubble and build. Through out Part II, we are aware of the water, but also of something maybe slightly dangerous—like how about maybe the rip-tides there that could pull you out in minutes (although going in the water was something you did only in a wet suit.)

In Part III, Scot deals with the element of fog. To a sailor, fog is a dangerous thing—not being able to see. This boundary--this edge becomes dangerous in another way. You can’t drive your ship upon the land. That is why we invented--the fog horn.

Today's entry is dedicated to someone born today, who is celebrating, guess where? Yes, the beach. Happy Birthday Honey. Love to you and the whole gang.