The Labyrinth Scored for the Purrs of 11 Different Cats

ubu.com:

Terry Fox (1943-2008)

The labyrinth at Chartres is a unicursal path winding in 552 steps through 11 concentric rings into the center. In order to hear the sound of this path I have changed the steps into cats purrs. The 552 steps have become 5,520 seconds of purring, each step being equal to 10 seconds of sound. The 11 concentric rings then become 11 different cats, each cat representing one complete ring with all its steps. The stereo balance of the tape corresponds to the directional movement throught the labyrinth. The tape begins with 10 seconds of the 1st cat (ring), 10 of the 2nd, 10 of the 3rd, 10 of the 4th then turns left for 130 seconds (steps) of the 5th ring (cat), overlapping into the 6th ring for 140 seconds and so on winding through the labyrinth into the center which is represented by the simultaneous purring of all 11 cats.

The tape was completed in a live mix engineered by Bob Bilecki at Z.B.S. Foundation in Fort Edward, New York, using 5 prerecorded cats from San Francisco and 6 from Fort Edward in December 1976. Thanks to Tom, Patty, Boogaloo, Miriam, Puffin, Heba, Ferguson, Ernest, Samantha, Spat, Arthur and to the generous help of their "owners" both in SF and NY. This tape was supported in part, by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.

The Labyrinth Scored for the Purrs of 11 Different Cats (60:00)