Topology of Sirens (2021) - full transcript

Hey.

Yeah.

Yeah good! Just settling in.

Mm. Mm-hm.

You want the tone just
to be just professional?

Okay.

Yeah I'll have it. Yeah,
I'll have time later today.

Okay. Yeah, talk tomorrow.

Bye.

You've reached the offices

of Professor Gregory Klein,
department of Archaeology.



Office hours are Monday and
Wednesday 12:00 to 2:00 PM.

Please leave a message of any length

and he'll return your
call as soon as possible.

Thank you.

You reached the offices

of Professor Gregory Klein
Department of Archaeology.

Office hours are Monday and Wednesday.

Hey, I'm Cas.

- Hi. Do you not remember me?
- No.

I used to study with Belinda.

Actually, I'm a good friend of Whitney's.

We play together.

- Yeah.
- Do you play any instruments?

Um, I studied piano.



Oh, okay, with Belinda.

- Yeah, we did when we were kids, but, um-
- Yeah.

Yeah. I don't like, I don't
not so much play anymore,

but I studied classical, so it's,

it's hard when I've tried to, in college

I tried to be part of a jazz thing

but it's like hard for me
to break the meter, I guess.

I know that feeling.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- I think everybody-
- Yeah.

Every classical person does.

- Absolutely.
- Is it raining?

- It is raining.
- Oh wow.

- It is.
- Still a sprinkle

...out of nowhere.

Sun to rain.

- Feels refreshing. I like it.
- Yeah.

- It's nice change.
- Yeah.

You know what they call this?

Every culture has a name for this

and it's, in some cultures,

it's like a fox is marrying a rabbit,

and in others it's like an
owl is marrying a hippopotamus

but every culture has these sort

of wedding names for when-

Oh wow.

- Sun and rain happen at the same time.
- Amazing.

Is that where the cats and
dogs expression comes from?

Oh, interesting, yeah.

I guess I don't think of
cats and dogs as so different.

It's coming down hard.

- Pets.
- Are you okay?

I think I need a bit more, yeah.

- Do you need help?
- Yeah, absolutely.

Here. We can help.

Yeah.

- Unplug this.
- Oh.

♪ Don't you know that you want me too ♪

♪ And I'm thinkin about ya,
baby, holding calmly onto me ♪

♪ Don't you know that you wanna be free ♪

♪ Sometimes you've been
thinking all around you ♪

♪ Don't you know, that I could
be there, baby, for you ♪

♪ Don't you be just another
flower movin' on now ♪

♪ Don't be like the breeze
and just go driftin' by ♪

Do you know the Veda says
that we choose our parents

in order to have the challenges

that growing through
will give us the tools

that we need to have for
our own personal growth.

So clearly you chose
this in all of its glory.

Yes. It's my power.

It, absolutely, we are victims
of nothing except bonsais.

The house literally glowed
with this freakish pink light.

I mean, it looked like we
were running a bordello.

All for those little trees.

That's wild. How is it now?

The trees?

- Yeah.
- Small.

Shush.

You know, they look nice.

Do you know if Belinda
ever played hurdy-gurdy?

Hurdy? What?

You know what it is.

Like, it's like, it looks like a violin

but kind of big.

Has a crank on the side and...

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- That's a hurdy-gurdy?
- Yeah.

Why would you think
she played hurdy-gurdy?

Because I found one in the back closet.

The bedroom closet.

I thought you left it for me.

She was into some
interesting things, your aunt,

but I cleaned out that whole house

and especially the closets and.

- That's weird.
- Huh.

Hi.

Oh, hey, how you doing?

- I'm good, how are you?
- I'm good. I'm good.

- Can I ask you a question?
- Yeah, of course.

- I found these cassettes.
- Mm-hm.

And I'm wondering if you have
a player that can play them.

We probably should.

We've got a whole bunch of stuff. Um.

You're playing a video game?

No, it's actually this guy right here.

It's just a little kind
randomized tone generator.

You can play around with it if you want.

Changes the range, that one,
little bit of portamento.

Yeah, some of them don't do anything

but little experiment
I've been working on.

Doesn't have a name yet

so if you have any suggestions,
just, uh, just let me know.

- I'll think about it.
- Cool, cool.

Um, I think we should probably
have what you need in back.

Uh, follow me and, uh, see what we got.

Sure.

So I know they're gonna
be somewhere on this side.

How old is this place?

It's about 75 years old.

It was my grandfather's

and then my father's and now it's mine.

Do you like working here?

I think so.

I mean, it's kind of just
my thing at this point.

- All right, here we go.
- Oh good.

Yeah, you can just
have them to be honest.

Really?

Yeah. I mean, they're taking up space.
I don't even know if they all work.

So they're yours.

- Thank you.
- Yeah, of course.

Thanks very much.

Yeah, you gonna be
doing some old school reporting

with them or what's going on?

Some new school detective work.

Some detective work. All right.

We think.

- And a shovel.
- Mm-hm.

I mean, there's nothing
like the French harpsichord

starting to sound, uh, natural.

They were gotten before that.

I have another, um.

Playing this for his death, basically.

What are you giving away?

"Just William".

What's, what's William?

No. It wasn't worth hanging on to.

Ooh, Pern,
"Dragon Writers of Pern.

- I read that.
- Oh wow.

Should I do it?

It's like young adult sci-fi.

- Emily Dickinson, look.
- Oh, yeah.

He's diving into the
shallow end of the pool

and they're rocks and...

but you can see underneath
the surface of the water.

And so you understand
that there's a risk there

but he's wearing goggles and
diving directly onto the hard-

Illusion of safety.

Do you feel like, does
it sound the same every time?

Probably doesn't sound
exactly the same, but try to,

yeah, it's a composition.

So I try to follow the same series

of intentions, steps, actions.

What, where do you start from?

Like what is your intention with it?

I don't know.

I think it's almost a
little more scientific

where it's like I know
something will happen in terms

of the phenomenon of sound
between these two frequencies.

Let that unfold kind of as I know it will.

Yeah. Does that make sense?

Sort of.

Programming from
KTXT is brought to you

in part by viewers like you.

- I'm sorry.
- Hello.

Is this KTXT the station?

Yeah. Yeah.

Oh.

I used to watch this channel
when I was a little girl

but I thought it went
off the air years ago.

No, no.

Never went off the air.

Um, I mean, things have progressed,

evolved with the station

just like the community has.

Um, technology's changed.

Production facilities have changed,

but you know people still
send us their, their tapes,

you know, I mean some of this stuff

like this guy just started
recording snow right

before the advent of digital
'cause he wanted people

to still be able to watch
analog television snow.

So we broadcast that
a couple times a week.

But, yeah, all kinds of stuff.

Don't people just
think their TV is broken?

I dunno. I guess it's not my problem.

- Can I ask a question?
- Yeah.

Do you know this woman?

Who is it?

It's my aunt.

No, don't know your aunt.

Did she work here or something?

I don't think so,
but I'm staying at her house

and I came across these tapes

and this one has a KTXT
jingle playing on it.

And it's the only thing that
I can make out on any of them.

Ah, what kind of jingle?

Just people singing.

But male or female?

Female.

That would be Jenny George.

Jenny was everybody's
favorite jingle singer.

She didn't just do us

she did a few other local
businesses, radio, TV.

But you could just spot
her voice from anywhere,

across the street.

You'd hear her and you'd say,

well you probably wouldn't
say that's Jenny George.

'Cause most people didn't know her name.

Jingle singers don't tend to get credit.

But we got fan mail for her.

She was, she was everybody's favorite.

- Hmm.
- Yeah.

Whoa.

I did remember the symbol.

Can you play it?

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I mean it got boxed
up with everything else

and I don't know, I've probably
nobody's looked at it in-

A selection
of fine instruments

from the 17th and 18th century.

For all your hurdy-gurdy needs,

come to Curtiss Hurdy-Gurdy Emporium.

What are you reading about?

It's a little nerdy, but I
was reading about pipe organs,

the history of them
and I read that in like

whenever the Reformation happened

in like the 15th century or something.

I don't know my dates

but apparently the church
used the organ as like,

look at this cool toy that we have.

Come back to the church.

- Wow.
- To like lure people back in.

- Marketing?
- Yeah.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

They already had the
organs but they were-

They had the organs
but they didn't really use them that much.

But then like when people
started veering off

away from Catholicism,
they were like, no, no, no.

Come back.

Look. Look at this like crazy thing.

- Showing the-
- Yeah, yeah.

- It works for me.
- I thought that's kind of funny.

- Yeah.
- Yeah, totally.

It draws me back into the churches-

- Totally, what it's was.
- That I wouldn't inhabit.

- Me too.
- Yeah.

It's the only reason.

- When-
- It's funny to think

of people at a different time

thinking of like the same things.

- Yeah.
- I like that.

- Thank you.
- Yes.

How old are, when are, like,
do organs precede the piano

or are organs at the same
time as harpsichords?

- Organs are like ancient.
- Oh.

They had, like, water organs in Egypt.

- Greece.
- Wow, what?

Yeah, the hydraulics.

It was like a water pumped,
water powered organ.

Like really primitive, like, you know,

not big or anything like that.

But yeah, they had organs.

Organs actually had the same
function as bells early on.

They were like outdoor instruments

that were meant to just be like loud

and, you know, like part of
a procession or whatever.

- Hi.
- Hello.

I have found a hurdy-gurdy.

- Oh.
- I think.

And I was wondering if
I could show it to you.

Oh yes. That's a very old one.

The style of the 17th century.

Oh.

I've been looking for
one of these myself.

Where'd you find this?

It's actually, I think, belonged

to my aunt who is a musician,
but it was in her closet.

- But she's...
- Is she French?

No.

This is a very old French instrument.

They only made this style in
France in the 17th century

and it's very rare to find
something like this anywhere.

Where do you think
she would've gotten it?

I have no idea.

Find something like that.

This even has somebody's name.
I can see a Joseph.

This has a like a compartment here.

Yeah.

And when I opened it I found

these which are like

- answering the machine tapes.
- Huh.

I don't know how that could get in there

because usually you kept
your cotton and rosin.

I would expect to find
maybe an old playing card

or something in there,
but not something modern.

I don't know if that's like

has no explanation that
makes any sense at all.

Especially if it's been in
that attic for a long time.

Would you be interested in
selling this one or trading it?

I have some that actually play.

That's, that's gonna take
a lot of restoration.

But, uh, this one here is Pierre Louvet

from Paris about 1749.

Here's one by Coty.

It's a recent one.
Not much is known about him.

This one's made in Versailles.

The maker even signed maker to the queen

who would've been Marie Antoinette.

And then this one though,

I think it can't be much better than this.

Oh, it's lovely.

It's made by Jean-Nicolas Lambert

who is considered maybe
the best maker of his era

because his instruments
were the most expensive

and this one works really well.

What year?

Uh, the label inside.

So you think you wanna give it a try?

Yeah, I would love to.

Okay.

How old is it?

Uh, I think it's from like 1907.

- Early 1900s.
- Huh.

Yeah, they used to use these
actually, the ones that fold,

um, as, like, chaplain's organs.

So like a priest during
the First World War

could just sort of take it around with him
and do impromptu services.

- For soldiers?
- Yeah, yeah.

Nice.

Can I ask a question?

- Yeah.
- What is that?

Oh. Oh yeah.

That's the tag from the, uh,
estate sale that I got this at.

I just haven't taken it out.

Where? Do you remember?

Mm, I don't know.
It was a few years ago.

Um, I can check when I
get home and let you know.

Yeah, that'd be great.

Sure.

Ah, the usual?

Here you go.

What business do you
have with Mr. Pistorius?

Oh, no business
with him specifically.

Well, if you have enough business then?

Is he here to talk to you?

Oh, no.

He passed away many years ago.

Oh, I'm sorry.

No matter.

What brings you here?

Well my friend, I think,

bought a harmonium from him.

Of course, you are looking to buy.

Possibly.

These are all harpsichords, yes?

Mostly, yes.

One or two pianos, a Chopin
era, a Beethoven era.

We rent them out on behalf
of the Pistorius' estate

mostly to local orchestras,
ensembles, private parties.

And the paintings.

Let us just say

they have unspeakably unusual features.

Not strictly for sale

but we could come to some arrangement.

Tell me more.

This, an 18th century
French painter Donat Nonnotte.

Said to be Princess Adelaide of France,

the sixth child of Louis
XV and Queen Marie.

She was believed to be one

of Frances's greatest
hurdy-gurdy players at the time.

You don't know a man
named Curtiss, do you?

I think I've met a few
Curtisses in my time.

Why do you ask?

No reason. Another hurdy gurdy?

Yes. Mr. Pistorius
had his preoccupations.

This, a 19th century by Achille Leonardi.

A depiction from a Donizetti
opera "Linda di Chamounix."

A wandering young orphan
named Pierrot travels the land

singing his troubadour songs.

The most recent one on
display and the only American,

Frederick Stuart Church, "The Sirens."

A curious choice, one
that doesn't seem to align

with Mr. Pistorius' general tastes.

How do you account for it?

Well, he was an eccentric man

but there are certainly
greater enigmas regarding him

than an errant taste in artwork.

It's interesting.

You can't tell if the one in
back is about to embrace her

or push her off the cliff.

If you say so.

- Can I show you something?
- Of course.

Does this woman look familiar to you?

Oh yeah, she does
look slightly familiar.

I just can't place her.

She does bear
a stunning resemblance

to our Princess Adelaide
over there though,

wouldn't you say?

Maybe.

Do these mean anything to you?

I say, you should have
shown me these straight away.

What is this?

Another order of the Pistorius estate.

Whoever comes bearing those
marks is to receive this.

What's inside?

Not known to me, but rest assured,

whatever relics Mr. Pistorius
is archiving in here

are well worth yours or anyone's time.

I'll take your word for it.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

I hope I've been of help

and now I really must get back to work.

You understand?

Of course.

- Go!
- Whoa!

- All right.
- Come on, come on!

- Oh!
- Go!

Excuse me.

Can I help you?

Do you know when
they have games here?

Baseball? Yeah, when I'm here there's
usually some sort of game going on.

Huh? Thank you.

Sorry.

Some sort of game.

These were Aunt Belinda's.

Lot of the time we
were simply using small boats

to, uh, get out to the minor islands,

which is where I developed my love

for islands and go snorkeling,
uh, secluded beaches.

Little villages that we stayed in,

started off on Ko Pha Ngan

and then went out into even
smaller islands than that.

Indonesia, phew, that's
a country of islands.

You know, there are, what is it,

13,600 occupied islands in Indonesia.

And it always used to
be that each one of them

had their own language until
the country became independent.

I was on one of the tributaries
of the Yangtze in China.

Thought I could swim across the tributary.

Somebody had to bail me out

because the current was so strong.

An anthropologist came to my rescue

and dragged me out of the stream.

My personal explorations
have been just great.

Rocks, forests, rivers
and mountains, glaciers.

Whit?

Whit?

The value and
utility of any experiment

are determined by the
fitness of the material

to the purpose for which it is used.

And thus, in the case before
us, it cannot be immaterial

what plants are subjected to experiment

and in what manner such
experiments are conducted.

The selection of the plant group

which shall serve for
experiments of this kind

must be made with all
possible care if it be desired

to avoid from the outset every
risk of questionable results.

The experimental plants
must necessarily, one,

possess constant
differentiating characters.

Two, the hybrids of such plants must

during the flowering period be protected

from the influence of all foreign pollen

or be easily capable of such protection.

It has so far been found
to be just as impossible

to draw a sharp line between
the hybrids of species

and varieties as between species
and varieties themselves.

- To second!
- Go home!

Go! Let's go.

Keep trying, keep trying.

Get him!

It's okay, buddy.

Just give it your best.

Whoo!

- Nice!
- Play it!

Foul ball!

Who cares?

- Foul ball!
- Whoa!

Let's go!

Whoo!

Oh, nice!

Okay, here we go.

Oh!

That's fair.