Project Description

Tim Etchells – Ten Phrases

On a blank sheet of paper write down a series of ten short phrases or sentences gathered from some of the following sources:

  • books, newspaper or magazines
  • things people said to you, or you said to them
  • things you overheard or read in other contexts

A phrase can be as short as two words, or any length. Make sure you have ten phrases or sentences. Can be more. Sentences and phrases can be in any language.

This first part of the instruction can take anything from 10 minutes to several days -you can write these texts down in one go or you can spend a longer time gathering the materials.

Once you have the paper ready there are three tasks, each of them 3 minutes long.

One

  •  Set the timer on your phone to three minutes and then start reading one of the sentences or phrases aloud.
    As you read join the end and beginning of the single phrase you have chosen – so your speech is continuous and so that (in a sense) there is no beginning or end anymore.Explore reading/repeating faster and slower as well as reading with more or less force.Be aware of micro-breaks appearing in the phrase or sentence when you have to take a breath.
    How might these new breaks (dividing the change the sense of what you’re speaking?

    Continue until the timer goes off.

Two

  •  Set the timer on your phone to three minutes.Repeat a single phrase or sentence aloud for a while as in the first task.Then introduce a second phrase or sentence, repeating that one.To finish move back and forth between the two phrases or sentences, speaking them singly or as blocks of repetition, creating a kind of dialogue.

    Continue until the timer goes off.

Three

  •  Set the timer on your phone to three minutes.Read aloud between any number of the phrases, repeating them as you like and continuing reading/repeating faster and slower as well as reading with more or less force.For the second minute push your voice to go louder and louder.For the final minute take your voice down to a whisper.

Tim Etchells
London (United Kingdom)
19 July 2020
http://timetchells.com/about/