Listening Seminar 3

Pleased to be taking part in this. More details on the Vocalities Course Blog - part of The Aural and Visual Cultures Department, Goldsmiths, London.

Cataclysm: tornado destruction from CCTV footage

There is a series of videos on YouTube of footage rescued from CCTV systems that managed to keep running during some of the worst USA tornadoes. These images are a melancholic reflection of the loss and fear endured during these cataclysmic disasters. The CCTV camera images, often attached to residencies, sometimes capture the malfunction of the camera as the tornado hits the electricity supplies. They have a still, stubborn resilience - always angled high above to oversee the scene of pool, driveway, porch or school playground, gym, car park. They are different to the footage taken by people on mobile phones that are uploaded alongside - whose reasonable reactions of panic and fascination are captured in zooms, shakes, abrupt loss of framing. These are fragile movies made by machines, at a time when no human can bear the conditions to watch.