{"id":83313,"date":"2015-03-04T13:56:30","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T18:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=83313"},"modified":"2015-03-04T17:56:48","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T22:56:48","slug":"presenting-big-bent-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/04\/presenting-big-bent-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Presenting \u201cBig, Bent Ears\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"RFS_Site_Cover_5\"<\/a>

Image: Natalie F. Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

Many of you know Sam Stephenson<\/a> from his excellent contributions to the Daily<\/em> over the years. But he also has, with Ivan Weiss, a documentary nonprofit called Rock Fish Stew<\/a>\u2014they\u2019ve worked on projects about everything from jazz<\/a> to baseball<\/a>. And starting today, they\u2019re collaborating with The Paris Review<\/em> on a new series of multimedia pieces called \u201cBig, Bent Ears: A Serial in Documentary Uncertainty.\u201d As they explain in the prologue<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\n

We pursue hunches, welcome distractions, give ourselves space to associate freely. There\u2019s something indulgent in this approach\u2014childlike, some might say\u2014but we try to balance our impulses with learned rigor \u2026 We\u2019ll offer combinations of video, audio, photography, and writing in various arrangements and states of completion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So why the name? Whose ears are both big and bent, save perhaps certain breeds of dog? Sam and Ivan explain:<\/p>\n

\n

The name Big, Bent Ears derives from our two current projects, the Joseph Mitchell Project<\/a> and the Big Ears Documentary Project<\/a>. Joseph Mitchell, the midcentury chronicler of the back alleys of New York City, was renowned for his uncanny ear \u2026 his first collection was called My Ears Are Bent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Big Ears is one of the country\u2019s preeminent experimental music festivals. It features the likes of composer Steve Reich, Radiohead\u2019s Jonny Greenwood, music-art icon Laurie Anderson, tUnE-yArDs, Nazoranai, and the Kronos Quartet, among many others \u2026 In an age of quick hits and attention deficits, Big Ears focuses on long listening and the noncommercial craft of music and sound.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read their prologue here<\/a>, and check back on March 11 for the first chapter of their story. We\u2019re looking forward to seeing what they come up with, and how far afield they roam.<\/p>\n

Dan Piepenbring is the web editor of <\/em>The Paris Review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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