Leaf Leaf/sounds))

Leaf Leaf/sounds))

Leaf Leaf/sounds)) is a multi-track sound piece remixing a digitized 1969 reel-to-reel recording of Daphne Marlatt reading from her book, Leaf Leaf/s. Marlatt’s voice is re-sounded alongside ambient guitar drones and field recordings captured by the artist Xiaoxuan Huang between 2021-2022. What becomes hyper-visible are various tensions that arise out of the acts of re-sounding – references to specific dates emerge like history re-establishing itself in the contemporary moment; the interior space of Warren Tallman’s living room clash against footsteps walking over leaves, people swimming outdoors; and of course Marlatt’s voice is interrupted by, then talks over again, other vocalized sounds – coughs, laughs, sighs – captured by Huang’s field recordings. Following Linda Morra’s insightful unpacking of the term “moving” in the world of archives, this paper will also discuss how this act of re-sounding is entangled with the subjective editorial influence and orientations of the mover’s affects.