1. Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
Yes you could listen everywhere but trying to figure out what you were hearing was another story. At times there was so much sound I attempted to separate and siphon through the all the sounds and just concentrate on one at a time.
2. Was it possible to move without making a sound?
It was hard to tell if I was making a noise when I moved or if it was the people in the same vicinity as me. I’m going to believe it is impossible to move without making a sound, as little as the sound might be, perhaps even inaudible to the human ear, we can’t move without making a sound.
3. What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them again?
Upon plugging and unplugging my ears the sound became louder, and more intense. The idea of plugging your ears and then unplugging them reminds me a similar practice when looking for perfume or cologne. When you have sniffed too many perfumes you give your nose a rest by smelling coffee beans. This process is cleansing the nose for more perfume smelling. The plugging and unplugging of the ears acted as a cleansing, resting time for my ears.
4. What types of sound where you able to hear?
see notes
5. Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
There were only a few sounds that I could not determine where they came from. I think the only reason I could not figure out the source of the few sounds was because I was not looking in the direction of the sound. If my eyes had been closed and I did this walk I would have had a harder time determining the source of all the sounds.
6. Were you able to differentiate human, mechanical, and natural sounds?
Yes for the most part I was able to differentiate between the sources of the sounds, but again I was only able to do this with the visual aid of my eyes.
7. Were you able to detect subtleties, changes, or variations in the ever-present drone?
Yes I was able to detect changes in the ever-present drone, especially in the parking ramp. The pitch in the drone was the most distinguishable difference in each separate drone.
8. Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
I was able to tell the location of sounds relative to myself but much of the knowledge was based on visuals.
9. Were you able to intervene in the urban landscape and create your own sounds by knocking on a resonant piece of metal, activating wind chimes, etc.?
I was able to intervene but I didn’t. I wanted to experience the sound around me without any interruptions from myself.
10. Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
I do have a new appreciation of the sounds from the environment around me. This appreciation started when I had the opportunity to attend a showing of Aaron Xim’s works at the union theater last semester. For both pieces he presented that night the audience was sitting in the theater void of any light and the only thing I could do was listen, since I sure couldn’t see a thing. Its so interesting that once one sense is taken away the others take over I had never experienced this more then at the Aaron Xim’s presentation.
11. How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
As mostly a visual artist, the sound walk gave me a chance to practice using my ears more than my eyes. All in all though, the walk made me more aware of the ability of all the other sense we are able to put to use. We all depend so much on what we see, but now I’m learning to concentrate on using other sense.
Sound Walk Map
Body Map
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