by Antje Vowinckel
Introduction
(“I have nothing to say and I say it” (John Cage)
Since 2006 I have developed the method of Automatic Speaking. The experiences from different projects and the approaches of many different participants have contributed to the instructions.
Everyone can try Automatic Speaking on his own, preferably in nature. I can only recommend it. It aims to experience the transitions between life and art, language and music, and encourages creativity rather than consumption.
In my projects, however, the participants are equipped with microphones and they record themselves during an Automatic Speaking tour. Afterwards, I compose a piece from the recordings of all participants on a tour. This makes Automatic Speaking, as I use it, different from the Écriture Automatique of the French Surrealists, because everyone knows that their recordings will be heard and used afterwards. Of course, this knowledge influences speaking.
Automatic Speaking therefore relies heavily on constant repetition of words, parts of sentences, phrases, etc. This can overcome too much control and searching for “ideas”. Automatic Speaking demands permanent auditory monitoring from the speakers. This means that on the one hand they should speak spontaneously, but on the other hand they should always listen to themselves in order to repeat something of what has just been said. This monitoring requires a certain amount of practice.
The method has been developed over many years and with the help of many performers. If you like the method and would like to share it, please mention my name.
Thank you and have fun!
Antje Vowinckel
INSTRUCTIONS
Go. Speak.
Speak continuously without any pause. Two seconds is a pause!
Repeating is very important.
Speak slowly or quickly, loudly or softly, but keep your walking pace.
Speak only of the present. Not of the future, not of the past.
The present is your surroundings.
You are alone. You lead neither blind nor kids nor tourists.
Remain yourself. Say “I” – not “you” or “we”.
Use your tongue as a camera. Use it to scan the environment.
Film it, don’t explain it.
Break down the environment into individual images.
Break down your language into single words, syllables, letters.
Repeat them.
Zoom into the landscape and out again…in and out…
Connect your observations to parts of your body.
Repeat. Change only one letter or syllable. Keep repeating.
Repeat until a new observation creeps in.
Or: stretch words until something new comes in or you run out of breath.
Babble, shout, grumble, whistle, rhyme, use foreign languages.
Keep repeating.
Avoid judgmental comments.
Avoid well-known songs.
Accept “mistakes”. That means: never interrupt or correct yourself.
If you think you made one, repeat it, vary it. Take it as a detour.