This week was quite interesting as we explored the use and importance of sound and utilizing it within a creative and interesting way in order to heighten a visual experience. The pre-work we needed to do for this week was to explore a sound project. I chose the work “Lowlands” by Susan Philipsz.
It was an interesting piece of work that interested me as the techniques used within both the visuals and the effects of the used sounds were able to make me interpret the work in a much deeper sense. The gospel like/echo-y singing was quite eery, which was interesting when it contrasted to the visuals of everyday life. On top of that, the use of water shots created an almost reflective quality, which could be interpreted in a deeper sense in terms of consciousness, reflection of one’s self or a concept. I interpreted the work as an experiment exploring sound bouncing off enclosed areas (e.g. space under a bridge – not completely enclosed but it echoes sounds). I enjoyed how it was visually minimal, yet abstract through the use of sound.
The in-tutorial exercise was a useful experiment and indicator of what we could possibly use for the final video. We chose to use the sound recording application ‘Audacity’ and we recorded various sounds and layered them on top of each other. It was almost like a mini auditory narrative – as we recorded sounds that could evoke the mood of anxiety and discomfort – which was something we were looking at possibly exploring within our concept. However, after talking with Mel, he suggested that it would be more interesting to focus on one sound solely – in particular the breathing. After today’s exercise, we thought it would be best to focus on minimal sounds that have an aspect of uniqueness in order to convey our ideas of anxiety and discomfort through human interactions.
The link to our final sound loop/clip: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5JgEBBMtvE1eWxFNlE3c0QzVms
Lost In Lacuna 