Reading Response #1 will consist of a three-paragraph statement on one of the readings from the list below, answering the following three questions (one paragraph per question):
Post your Reading Response #1 to one of the following readings as a comment to this post: Cosgrove, Cresswell, Cross, Debord, Ferrington, Hall, Hart, Hiss, Peterson, Sant, Westerkamp.1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Check the Research page for direct links to these readings.
The deadline is Sunday, February 22, 5 PM.
63 comments:
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I read the article "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. I chose this article because the title intrigued me. It sounded interesting and I was curious as to what this new way of walking might be. I thought it might be an article of what to do while you are walking and how to focus on your surroundings in order to become a part of the environment.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The main points of this article talk about a conference in New York and what various artists did while there. One of the things was "generative psychogeography" this is explained as walking in a fixed pattern, repeated as many times as you like. The author takes a walk of his own following a fixed pattern and shares his experiences. He is pleasantly surprised by what he finds.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? This idea is very closely related to our sound walk projects. One of the options we have is to walk in an algorithmic pattern and see where it takes us. This is exactly what Joseph Hart did. I will consider using this technique for my next soundwalk based on what I have read from this mans experience.
1. I chose "A New Way of Walking" by Hart. I chose the article because it sounded relevant to the sound walks we will be embarking on soon. I think that its a good place to start thinking about how we want to patrol ourselves throughout cities.
2. The article focuses on this principal of psychogeography and methods for exploring. He discusses how people are drawn by their sense, whether its who they're with or the weather. It's an interesting insight into trying to define why people make decisions to go certain ways.
3. As a media artist, and as I stated before, this gets into strategy that we can employ for our own personal sound walks. Its one thing to pick a starting point, but how you direct yourself will really shape the sounds you pick up. I think it also gets into thinking of paths differently. They make a reference to people's walks being monotonous, so trying to employ a strategy like this and sticking to it might help shape both our sounds and our sense of adventure.
Max Kobold
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I selected the article “On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever” by Gary Ferrington. The reason why I chose this article is because of the interesting title. The title told me that the article was going to be about hearing sounds, and since I’m going on my soundwalk this weekend I thought this would be a great article to read.
2. What are the main points of the essay? There are several main points in the essay “On a Clear Day I can Hear Forever.” The first main point that Ferrington made is that there are many types of sounds that surround us everyday and many can become irritating if we let them. He also made a point that as our society grows, so does the amount of sound that is being produced. Another point he made is that the more human sound we create the less of the natural sounds we hear such as birds. Lastly Ferrington makes a point about winter and how he favors this season the most because it silences the city and allows him to hear distant sounds, which leads him to think, “It is a time when I think I can hear forever.”
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? In Ferrington’s essay “On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever,” he makes the audience aware of the different types of human sounds that surround us everyday, and he argues that the city is becoming to bombarded with these sounds, which is suppressing the natural sounds. I agree with Ferrington because as a media artist I don’t want to be capturing human sounds on my soundwalk, but rather I want to capture natural sounds. I know when I go on my sound walk it will be very difficult to get away from all the human noise such as cars passing by or people talking, but I hope to at least find some quite within this racket.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
The article I selected was 'On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever' by Gary Ferrington. I personally found this to be a beautifully detailed account on, well, the Art of being able to listen to and separate sounds from each other within the environment, the city, in this case.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
Ferrington shares how he discovered that after an extent of time of being exposed to it, the artificial sounds within his environment have order and are made according to a schedule. These sounds--traffic, planes, garbage trucks, trains, etc, are all made at certain times of the day, certain times of the week, orchestrated together as though they accumulate into some piece of music.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Ferrington's article gave me some valuable insight for when I do my first Drift. I felt as though I could almost hear everything Ferrington was describing, inspiring me to consider my environment more closely than I'm used to. There is an unlimited amount of information that the environment can offer to the ears, both citywide and natural sounds. One just needs to know how to find them.
1. I chose to respond to Hildegard Westerkamp's article, "Soundwalking". I chose this article because it talks about many important subjects that I need to keep in mind while listening and recording on my drifts.
2. One of the main points of Westerkamp's article is that truly listening to the world around you takes a lot of effort. We always hear the sounds around us, but we don't acknowledge them. In order to really hear the sounds we have to focus on listening to every sound around us. Another important focus of the article is an example of a soundwalk at Queen Elizabeth's Park in Vancouver. Westerkamp takes us through different areas in a soundwalk and points out what to pay attention to - she shows us how to listen attentively.
3. These ideas are extremely relevant to my own practice as a media artist. Westerkamp brings important tips and tools to the table for me to use that will make my active listening more successful and effective.
While I was going through the list of readings one title in particular stood out to me, and that title was Walking through a Liquid Forest of Symbols, written by Anders Lund Hansen. I guess the reason that it stood out to me so much was the fact that it reminded me of the book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. In a sense the name of the reading is different from the other choices, such as: Place: A Short Introduction, Carto-City, A New Way of Walking, and Redefining the Basemap. Walking through a Liquid Forest of Symbols is, in actuality, an excellent way of describing what sound is to someone who has never heard before. The name itself, has a sense of mystery to it, and draws the reader in to discover more about the work, as it has done to me, and possibly many others.
The main point of this story is the inadvertent use of “space wars”. To me, a “space war” is almost the same as accepted segregation. In the paper, the author points out the movie “Space Wars” where a film maker goes around New York and captures the different groups of people that reside and work in areas of the city. The twist is that almost all of these people have the same national or economical backgrounds; the Chinese have Chinatown, the rich are mostly in Wall Street. Hansen points out that these separated “communities” are unique to the senses of a passerby, most notably sound, and how a community like this is largely created by the sounds that it’s “civilians” create.
These ideas are relevant to me because I like to work in an experimental way with everything I do. Everyone can go and randomly walk around to record sounds, but few will analyze the surroundings to get a feel for why the sound sounds the way it does. I believe that space has a way of changing over time, even an open field will sound different the next day, and I don’t think that most people will think this same way. I could make my whole drift by recording just that one field, and to me it would be different every time I would go to record, but to others the change would seem insignificant. Just like the photographs that Auggie Wren took from behind the counter of the tobacco shop, the photos and the sound of the field both change over time, and after a while one can make out the changes that become prevalent in each. I think that this is how I like to work, slowly making or capturing changes over a longer period of time.
1. I chose Tim Cresswells "place" because I thought it gave an interesting perspective on the word and its various meanings. upon reading the introduction he describes how certain words trigger specific definitions in our minds but with the word "place" it can mean a number of different things, each one slightly contrasting the one before.
2. Cresswell talks about how using "place" as a social hierarchy can differ greatly from using it to describe a sense of territory or reference to somewhere we have visited. If we use it to describe a territorial space we could look at a college dorm room as a place that is our own. however, if someone has previously lived in that dorm, the prior inhabitant made it THEIR place. Everything about the room has a history to it. when talking about location, we can either give coordinates or name a city. with the city, certain landmarks come to mind. this differs from what we think of with coordinates because we rarely think or coordinates as a sense of place. Cresswell explored the concept of historical place in that, with every era, change occurs and place evolves from one idea to another. for instance, ten years ago a park could have been a place for political riots and demonstrations and now may be merely a place where your children can play. Cresswell said, "all of these are examples of the ongoing and diverse creation of places-sites of history and identity of the city." to me, that meant that place should define the roots of the area you are looking at. It should focus on the thoughts that come to mind when we think of that area. so many events have occurred in that specific place. immigrants worked on the gardens which still flourish today. a place that might have looked dreary and hopeless may be a place that now brings communities together. place can be imaginary, like the images that come to mind when a book is describing its setting and it can also include the objects with in the area, such as furniture, accessories, etc. it is everything included in that space. The last argument that Cresswell made which really stuck out was when he said, "place is not just a thing in the world but a way of understanding the world."
3. these ideas and arguments are significant because as media artists, we usually strive to evoke a specific emotion in the audience with either imagery or story lines. when using place in media, we need to project the images and thoughts we have for these places on to the audience. We want them to open their minds and not just think of place as merely a location, but rather as a view of the world they are watching through our creations.
oel Augustine
Reading Response 1
A New Way of Walking
I choose to do my reading response on A New Way of Walking, by Joseph Hart. The way that Hart chose to write this article was very compelling to me. He gave the history of psychogeogrphy, he wrote in experiences and quotes from people who have gone on the journey, and he also describes his personal experience on a trip he took in Minnesota. These elements, which Hart decided to write about, make the article more personal, and give us an insight on what this kind of walking/ journey is all about.
The term, which was used through this paper to describe what they did, is “psychogeography.” This term describes a way to get pedestrians off their predictable paths and to make them have a new awareness of their surroundings. He talks about ways of walking such as Algorithmic Walking, which is planning a certain rythem to follow and to use maps of another city to get around. This is very similar to what we talked about in class. Hart includes an explanation from Christina Ray, and she talks about how most people in the city take the same ways to get from place to place. She says that as people wander through the city, they have a small set of programmed ways to get them around on their daily routes. She suggest that if you track the path of most peoples daily routines, you will discover that they are using the same roads, and side walks to get from place to place. Hart then goes on to talk about where the word “psychogeography” came from. He tells that it came about in the late 1950’s, when French artists and social theorists adopted the ways of the Dadaists, to break from the postwar conformity. Lastly, Hart explains the trip to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and how the algorithmic walking affected what they found. He goes and explains how he had some doubts about this kind of walking, but as the journey went on, he says that it proved itself in time. This way of walking let them to see things that they would not have seen or notice while in the town otherwise.
As an artist these ideas are relevant to the same way that I walk around the city. The only difference in my way, compared to the way that Hart discusses is that I just randomly walk down allies or roads that I have never been down before. Hart discusses a way of walking from a certain point, and having a predetermined path or way of walking. But I think both ways are still following the same idea, which is to get pedestrians off their normal path, and to actually see and hear what their surrounding consist of. And as an artist myself, I am constantly aware of my surroundings and what they consist of with the use of my senses. I think anyone who calls themselves an artist, must be able to do this.
1. For this response, I chose "A New Way of Walking" by Hart. This article intrigued me because it spoke of listening to the world around you, which we will be doing for all of the sound walks and drifts in this class.
2. The article mainly deals with the principal of psycho geography and methods for deciding where and how to go about exploring. Hart discusses that people are drawn by their sense, whether it’s who they're with or the weather. Until this article, I had never really given any consideration to thinking about how and why people choose the paths they choose.
3. As a venturing media artist, this helps explain strategy that can be employed for the sound walks and drifts. Each point, starting to ending should be planned out, but how you orientate yourself will help dictate the sounds you will encounter. I think this article also gets me into thinking of paths differently and has affected the pathways that which I take to class. Hart makes a reference to people's walks being monotonous, so trying to employ a strategy like this and sticking to it might help vary up our day to day lives and understanding of the world around us.
Andy Josephson
1: The article that was chosen for my first reading, and not to be my last on this subject, was A New Way Of Walking, by Joseph Hart featured in the Utne Reader. The reason that I chose this piece started with the fact that the title caught my eye. Granted, I could assume the context that it was being placed in, but it also allowed for some interpretation. You could say I judged the book by the cover, but I didn’t judge is as anything other than a possible mystery of what could lie in its pages. The other main part that made me want to continue to read further was the first paragraph, they through out hyphenated words that I was familiar with separately but when combined created a meaning that I wasn’t familiar with. I.E. Psy.Geo.Conflux and Psychogeography. This gave the article a feeling of faux scientific which I immediately latched on to. Thusly making this article appealing in the fact that it was still left up to some mystery and seemingly scientific.
2: The main points that this article not so much argues so much as throws out there for the reader to digest on their own are; The beauty in spontaneity, giving up control and the idea of letting both your subconscious and your conscious allow you to find beauty in the situation. All the while conveying these ideas, it uses the story of a group of friends that go to a small town outside of Twin Cities and do an algorithmic approach to the walking where they went, ‘First right, Second left, First left, Repeat.’ and if they ever reached a dead-end, they would U-turn and start over. This lead them to finding things that would have never found if they were on just a normal stroll. This they say is because the subconscious would have made them stick to routes that seemed familiar like ones around coffee shops and and other mom and pop shops. While making their conscious stick to a regimented pattern, they found things down roads they would not have traveled.
3: How I feel this applies to me as a visual media artists is loosely in the fact hearing about how these people strayed away from the norm and found things that were visually stunning in their own unique right makes me want to do the same. Both for personal benefit and for the benefit of my work. Why have a group of people meet up at some coffee shop when they can meet up at some miscellaneous statue in town that is highly unpopulated. This I feel would just give something a bit more realistic in it’s own right. Because you would have to admit that growing up, or even still now, there is a place where you would go with a couple of friends that was out of the norm as seen on the silver screen.
I chose to respond to the article titled “Soundwalking” by Hildegard Westerkamp. I felt as if this article gave detailed and helpful suggestions for taking sound walks. Taking time to first listen to the sounds of your own body, as the article suggested, is a good way to “establish a dialogue” with the environment. Recognizing each sound as an individual entity may pose as a challenging task, but after reading this article, I was really able to acquire some good tips on how to separate and identify sounds and create meaning from them, such as starting small while gradually increasing awareness.
The main points of this article were to create dialogue with the environment and notice aural awareness on a wider scale. In urban life, close contact with nature and the sounds of nature is highly reduced. However, one can become more aware of their own surroundings and certain aspects of the environment in which they live in by simply stepping outdoors and going for a walk.
I am always looking for new ways and new techniques when using my surroundings as a canvas for creativity. This article gave me helpful tips and suggestions for going about listening to my surroundings and making something out of the environment in which I live in. The simple act of walking is a powerful procedure when it comes to noticing, realizing, interpreting, and analyzing bits and pieces that make up the world we live in.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
The article that I chose for this response is Soundwalking by Hildegard Westerkamp. I picked this article in particular because of how interesting it was read. I feel like out of all of the articles this one was the most applicable towards the drift assignments. I got the most out of this article, and I think that it served as a good guide post for preparing me for my task. The ideas in the article are clear and concise and it has way of instructing the reader step by step guidelines of how to be an active listener.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The main point of the essay is relaying the message to the reader to listen with attention in the urban settings. Another point the essay relays to the reader is isolating sounds, by doing so one can understand the many different “instruments” in the urban setting. Next, it goes on to a soundwalk in Queen Elizabeth Park to give an example of what to expect on a soundwalk. After the soundwalk in Queen Elizabeth there is the little point about Orientation of the soundwalk, and knowing location is crucial to your soundwalk. The essay then goes on to discuss the sound of wind, which I find a particularly important part of the essay because wind is such a crucial player in the creation of sounds. I also really enjoyed the addition of the Thomas Hardy quote in that section.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
I found that the article was relevant because it was actually similar to the experience I had in the Union when our lecture section was doing our first soundmap. I found that I could use some of the ideas like, “Try to move without making a sound, without making any sound. Is it possible?” Those instructions are interesting because you can use them and try to apply those ideas to your own soundwalk. I think the article will help me become a become a better listener and more actively involved with the “nature” of the urban soundscape.
-Rob Niesen
I chose to write about the article, On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever, by Gary Ferrington because I could relate to the authors experiences in the city. I live on the sixth floor, downtown, by the lake where the summer morning starts off peaceful with birds chirping in the windows. You would hardly know you were in a concrete jungle until the restaurant down below quickly reminds you while they move their table and chairs in preparation for outdoor dinners. The delivery trucks arrive shortly after opening their heavy doors and wheeling the supplies down the noisy ramp of the truck. The shipping boats on the lake blow their horn to inform their presence and continue to do so until they are let in the gate. In the evenings, Harley’s roar their engines as they pass through the tall buildings which echo long after they pass. Later in the night, the party goes are on their way home yelling at each other either because they are angry or because they can’t hear their own voice and assumes others can’t hear them either. The next morning starts back with the birds and church bells from all directions.
Ferrington talks about how the mornings begin quiet and as the city wakes up it provides an acoustic of sounds that let us know there is work to do. The larger the city becomes, the more work that has to be done. The more he listens the more he understands the jobs the city takes on.
Because Ferrington appreciated the sounds of the city he was able to differentiate the various sounds instead of collectively accepting the hum of city life. A media artist needs to appreciate these sounds, as well, in order to take in the whole experience of their surroundings. The order in which sounds occur gives an understanding of how the surroundings function as one unit.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it?
I chose to read On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever by Gary Ferrington. In truth I randomly picked one of the many readings we had to choose but was very pleased with my choice. After reading the first few paragraphs I realized why I chose this reading. The descriptions and story he tells paints me a picture of what he’s hearing and where he lives. It gave me a feeling that I was there with him and I kept me thinking what sounds are there going to be next.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
I think the main points of this essay are straight forward. That with listening to our surroundings we can actually picture what the sounds are and even where they are. Even listening close enough we can know what they’re doing by which sound they make at a certain time of day. I really good point was that people should take those quite times that are rare in a city and enjoy them while they last.
How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
This piece gave me a new perspective as to how to listen to surroundings even my own home. That even with in a place I am always in, everyday, there are new sounds to be heard. I can take these sounds and integrate them into my media or for me personally as I am a writer I can become more descriptive or the stories environments. It gave me a broader scope to any of my surrounding areas I reside in; allowing me to open my ears and mind to new and old sounds. Whether it be a sound I have heard a hundred times and know exactly what’s happening at that moment or a new sound that I want to investigate.
1. I’m choosing to respond to Gary Ferrington’s short essay, “On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever.” I chose to write about this essay because I appreciate the amount of detail that Ferrington goes into about his surroundings. Personally, I have trouble using a lot of details in my writing and I thought I could learn a thing or two from this essay. I can use this example to help me write about my own experiences in Milwaukee or where ever I go.
2. Gary Ferrington uses this essay to talk about his view of his city with great specificity. He tells a story about his city using only what he observes from his window. As readers, we get a clear image of what day to day life is like where he is from. We can feel his frustration when a garbage truck disrupts his peaceful morning and his admiration of how regular Presbyterian Church bell rings. It is incredible to see how much we can learn just by listening.
3. This essay is eye opening to myself to a certain extent. It has shown me how powerful listening can be. Ferrington was able to transport me, the reader, to his window in the high rise with his observational knowledge coupled with his use extensive details. I strive to write like Ferrington does and I feel I can use this essay as inspiration when I’m writing about my own experiences in the city.
1. I have selected Jennifer E. Cross' article because I was interested in the social psychological standpoint that was taken on the definition of "sense of place"
2. The first point of the essay was to define what "sense of place" is based on several biological, geographical, and psychological perspectives. Cross then goes on to categorize people based on their type of relationship (Biographical, Spiritual, Ideological, Narrative, Commodified, or Dependent) to a particular place, in this case - the place they are currently living. After the types are defined she goes on to categorize the strength of attachments people have to place (cohesive rootedness, divided rootedness, place alienation, relativity, and placelessness); this is measured on levels of satisfaction, identity, and future desires.
3. The ideas in this article are somewhat reflections of my own, although I only analyzed my own sense of place, I never really thought of the other categories people find themselves in. How I would represent certain settings would reflect my level of comfort and sense of place I have with them. Warping the experiences of the objective observer to see things through my eyes. For example, if I wish to convey an image that is rhythmic and comfortable (for lack of a better term) in nature I would look towards the city because I have always identified with large cities. If I wanted to create an air of discomfort, however, I would look towards the influences of the country and small-town America; as I have always found discomfort in them.
1. I chose "I, Mercator" by Stephen Hall. This article intrigued me because of the way it is written. The author's opening anecdote about orienteering is charmingly humorous, and his overall style is fluid and engaging.
2. Hall talks about his invented concept which he calls "orientating." The idea is fairly abstract, but familiar, as we all use it constantly. Basically, it is the mind's ability to create maps of every type of landscape (physical, mental, emotional, abstract, scientific, private, public, chaotic, organized...) and connect them all through association. This concept is constantly being expanded, not only as we discover new things to map and new ways to map them (genomes, deep space, microscopic embryos...), but also as we add to our personal experiences. It is the constant challenge of the human mind to "orientate" itself in it's surroundings, trying to create order out of an inherently chaotic universe and fill in the gaps of what it does not know. We draw out for ourselves a landscape filled with beautiful lines. We connect memories, places, feelings, relationships, interests, ideas, knowledge, lack of knowledge, and infinite other things as the mind explores it's existence all from, as Hall puts it, "where Here intersects Now."
3. These ideas are very relevant to my practice as a media artist because it gives me a new perspective on how to link media together. It's interesting to consider several different bits of sound and image as points on a mental map. They can be linked in a million different ways to create a million different associations. You can use your work in media to draw out your own personal map (connecting your memories, emotions, knowledge, and all the space in between through image and sound), which in turn becomes a point on the viewer's personal map.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I chose to read Joseph Hart's article "A New Way of Walking." I decided to choose this article because it related the closest to my soundwalking endeavors.
2. What are the main points of the essay? This essay/article is about walking in different ways to produce a new outcome. In a sense, it is about walking off of the beaten path or "the road less traveled." By doing this, you can learn/see/hear new interesting things that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise. You could walk in an algorithmic fashion or lay a map of a different city on top of your current location.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? This article is relevant to me because i chose a unique pattern to walk based on artistic history. The triangle is prevalent in the design and composition of most artwork either by using the rule of thirds or triangular groupings.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I read the article "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. This article jumped out at me because the title seemed to fit our drift experience like a glove. When i saw the title it made me believe that the article would be about new theories and ideas how to accomplish a successful sound walk.
2. What are the main points of the essay? First, 12 people met in New York for a conference, however they didn't meet at a traditional conference room, they explored the city. The conference was about psychogeography, a term that basically has to do with pedestrians walking not towards physical goal, but to jolt themselves into a new understanding of their environment. As you read on, the author writes about how the algorithmic pattern worked for him and his group famously, and it felt to him like every turn would give him more secret knowledge about the town.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? This article is relevant to my current practice as a media artist because it gave me a good example of how a soundwalk can be successful. The article was also useful because it exposed me to the idea of psychogeography. This was helpful to me because it helped me solidify and put a word to what were trying to accomplish and study by participating in this unique art.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose to read the article “Sounds of the Season”. I am more interested in the sound aspects of drifts than than the mapping aspect. Of the sound articles, Peterson's title seemed the least “academic”, “egotistical”, or “nostalgic”. After reading the subtitle, I was glad that it was a straight forward phrase and not “the philosophy of footsteps”, or something along those lines. I am not sure what he meant by “acoustic ecology”, but I am sure that further reading will either answer that question, or make me think he should have left that last tag out of the title.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
-sound is continuous; we can not turn off our sense of sound
-people often do not pay attention to sound unless it disrupts their normal routines
-the internet is making it easier to share sounds globally
-some sounds live on, some sounds die out
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
As a musician, sound is obviously very important in all aspects of what I do. Not only the sounds that the audiences hear, but the sounds going on in every day life are crucial, as well. Different sounds can influence the way a piece is written or performed. Many works are written with the intent of driving home some sort of political or social message. For example, while attending Butler in Indianapolis, I played in a Wind Ensemble that performed a piece “Fanfare Ritmico” by Jennifer Higdon. The piece was meant to reflect the sounds of the machinery in clocks to represent time – in all possible senses of the word – during the turn of the millennium and the industrialization.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I chose the article Place: A Short Introduction by Tim Cresswell because I was intrigued as to what “place” really was. I believe this article did a very good job explaining this.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The main points of this essay are to provide the reader with insight on what “place” can represent. It suggests that place, like everything else, can change with time, for instance if my home was a place now, it may not be my place later on down the road.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? I find this piece to be relevant to my practices because it opened my mind to new concepts and ideas in regards to place.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose to read On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever by Gary Ferrington. I chose this article because it was very discriptive and almost story like.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The main points in this essay are quite simple. For starters he points out the sounds that are about us everyday. He also points out that the sounds that we here are becoming more and more human made than nature because of the growing society. He finally states that his least favorite season is winter because there are not that many nature sounds.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? Well right now this is very relavant considering that drift 1 is all about sounds that are around us and capturing them. That is what Ferrington did is capture all the noises that he heard.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose the article, “On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever” by Gary Ferrington, because it deals with a lot of the same things we will deal with on our Drift walks. He talks about the sounds he hears at different times of day and, at some points, what makes each one stop or start.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
This is an essay about the author’s appreciation for all of the sounds around him. He writes about the sounds he can hear during “quiet time” at night, when there aren’t as many man-made sounds, but also about the daytime sounds made by humans and their creations. He obviously pays a lot of attention to all of the sounds, because he has figured out the signals that trains give for different situations as well as times of flights going over-head.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
As a student of this class, it is very relevant, because we are dealing with all of the sounds around us and recording them. As someone who plans on possibly directing or working in some other way with films, it helps make me aware of all of the sounds that exist at any time, and makes me think about how you would try to recreate all of that sound in the background of a film, or whether it would be too much to have as background noise in a film.
Justin Deutmeyer
The article I chose for this assignment was titled “Sounds of the season: learning to pay attention to the sounds around us – acoustic ecology,” written by Ivars Peterson. I selected this article because of its title; learning to pay attention to the sounds that you normally would’ve focus on has recently interested me. I often find my self sitting in my dorm room and quietly listening to the slight hum of my laptop and the wind blowing outside as I open my window. I was interested to hear what experts on this idea had to say about carefully listening to our surroundings.
The articles focuses on the issue that people in our common era no longer take the time to listen to little, everyday sounds but instead are only alerted to sounds when they are obnoxious, loud noises such as construction and cars honking their horns. We are humans are constantly surround by various noises but we only chose to focus when we hear music or a bothersome sound. The article also talks about the use of the Internet to share audio recordings has really helped for people to hear those sounds that we commonly overlook in everyday life.
This article relates to my work as a media artist, because I will focus on what sounds the camera will pick up, which causes me to play close attention to any hums or other brief noises that surround me. The “Drift 1” assignment for Film 116 should help me expand on my knowledge of how to truly listen and concentrate on my surroundings. Very commonly when constructing videos artists will overlook the sound aspect and only concentrate on getting good video; I am guilty of this myself. By carefully examining the sounds I hear when working as an artist I can allow my self to produce the best quality work.
-Logan Lovett
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I choose "A New Way of Walking," mainly because it sounded interesting to read right before my first walk. I thought it might give other ways to do your walk also, which will help me on my drift.
2. What are the main points of the essay? In this essay the main point is that there are so many interesting things you can find if you choose to walk the paths less walked. The author in this choose a small town in Minnesota which would look boring from the outside, but once they walked around they found many interesting things. So the main point is that there are interesting things everywhere but we don't see it much because we walk the same paths everyday.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? It is extremely relevant right now, because I just went on my walk and found many interesting sounds and places. I have lived in Milwaukee a lot of my life, and was convinced that I had seen everything but I found a lot of excited place and sounds right around the place I thought I knew the best.
1. I chose "Place: A Short Introduction" by Tim Cresswell. I chose this article because it seemed to be the most broad topic on geography and the idea of map making. Another strong reason I chose this piece was the length of the article seemed ideal. The true definition of, "place" was a cool idea too.
2.
The main point of the essay is to consider what the word, "place" really means. There are numerous uses of the word place in the english language (such as, "putting you in your place," or "lets go to this place.") and most people don't know how to use the word place in the first place. The real word that should be used is space, and how that turns into, "place" through social language. The essay goes on to talk about numerous geographical places and how they have maintained or digressed as time moves on; the lower east side of Manhattan, a Puerto Rican city etc. The point is to show that places change over time, for better or for worse.
An interesting part of the essay comes towards the end where the point of space is mentioned. The idea of space being a more abstract concept than place. Also a space becomes a place after you've come to learn the space well. It's this idea of what makes space a place to a person that is so interesting. 3.
The ideas in the essay are relevant more in particular to my sound walk. It's about geographic region and the changes that happen to places but how the space stays the same. It makes me take a second to think about the space I am occupying and how I relate it to my place. The article isn't relevant to my practicing as a media artist as it is more of a reflection on social cues such as saying a, "place."
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose "Walking as Do-It-Yourself Urbanism" because I really liked the idea of "Where do you breathe" and all of the interactivity of the whole experiment with the postcards and website.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The main points of the essay are basically how walking can change the city that you live in. The essay also talks about how interactivity throughout the city can also change the creative landscape of it. Also the essay wants to hit home the idea that people can be stimulated by their urban environment
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your
own practice as a media artist?
The ideas are relevant because as we do our drift walks we have to change the creative value of our own city. The essay was talking about London, and that is the objective we are trying to do in Milwaukee. We are turning are everyday urban landscape into something more personal than that. Walking to change the urban landscape of the city will greatly improve the quality of my drift and everyones drift walks.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
On The Aesthetics of Urban Walking and Writing
by Phillip Lopate. I chose this article after I shuffled through some of the other ones trying to find one that interested me right away. The starting of this reading caught my attention so I figured the rest would be interesting, and it was.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
It really touches on the importance of walking rather than other types of transportation. About how with walking, one should be able to focus more, and get a better understanding on things going on around. With walking, one is able to really see things that wouldn't be seen if they might be driving. Also walking opens up ears, and not just eyes. Hear what is going on, don't just see it.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
This article relates to me in the matter of walking more than driving. I don't like to walk very much, and when I do walk, I'm not very focused and don't pay attention to what is going on around me. This article makes me want to go out and see what is really going on instead of walking without thinking. Not many people really enjoy the satisfaction they can get out of really listening to the outdoors, and I want to change that about myself. I feel with this article, I will be able to focus and concentrate when I'm doing my outdoor drift projects.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I selected the article "On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever" by Gary Ferrington. I chose this article because I found very interesting the way in which he used words to describe the sounds that his city makes on any given day in general. The way that he described the sounds made it seem like I was there hearing the sounds not merely reading about someone else's experience. His experience became real, to me, the reader.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The main points that Ferrington makes in his essay have to do with the various ways that he can hear. Whether it be natural sounds made by only the environment around him, the human made sounds, or sounds coming from far away, he states that he can hear them all with different levels when they are interacting with one another. Human sounds can frequently drown out nature's sounds, he says. Ferrington declares that sometimes one can become irritated with human made sounds such as traffic. It seems like he also makes a point in discussing the balance between quiet mornings and loud, busy weekday routines. When quiet mornings are possible, he thinks that he can "hear forever".
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Ferrington's ideas are relevant to my own practice as a media artist because he discusses the importance of each sound we hear. We can hear these sounds but we can also take the time to listen to each one of them. Silence is also important for Ferrington which is another point that is relevant to any media artist. Silence can help define a work if used correctly and with meaning. I will keep Ferrington's ideas in mind when I go on my drift walk and think that the sounds around me are overwhelming or simply quiet. There are sounds to hear and focus on, according to Ferrington, in each of these situations.
Marisela Rodriguez Gutierrez
Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it?
I chose "On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever" and I picked it because I thought it sounded more poetic then the other titles. And i turned out to like that quality about it.
What are the main points of this essay?I think the overall main point is that sounds are everywhere and everchanging. With different times we get different sounds. He explains about where he lives how he can differientiate the noises, and where they come from and that in different seasons the sounds are adapted to those times.
How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artists?
To me, I think this is a great expression of just what we are doing. Our hearing needs to be heightened and over time we are going to be more aware of the things, people, and places around us. These things are very important because due to the fact that we all hear things differently, and can drown out things subsconsciencely.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. I chose the article because of it's likeness to our current drift project. Reading about different patterns and approaches to exploring a city gave me added insight into how to approach my own project.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
Most of us follow the same goal oriented path each day. By following this pre-programmed pattern we often miss or unintentionally avoid new sights, sounds and smells everyday. The author joins attendees of a conference focusing on psychogeography and urban exploration. The goal of psychogeography is to take pedestrians off their predictable paths and jolt them into a new awareness of the urban landscape. The author uses a method approach and is surprised at his variety of new experiences.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
One quote that really resonated with me was,
"When you remake your environment, or find wonderful things in it, it breaks you out of the machine." This was particularly striking because as an artist I'm always trying to push out of my comfort zone. I now realize that in order to break away from the predictable, exploration and variety in my daily life hold the key to new experiences and ideas.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose “What is ‘sense of place,’” by Jennifer Cross. This articles title is what caught my attention; the term ‘sense of place’ specifically. I have developed my own meaning and ideas of what ‘sense of place’ is and I thought it would be interesting to see if my ideas matched those of someone who has studied the subject.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
This essay took ‘sense of place’ and dissected it much farther than I thought it could. The majority of the essay focuses on spelling out different types of relationships people feel with ‘place’. Cross does this through defining and making distinctions between the different types of attachments one can have to their ‘place’. She then supports her theories with personal testimonies.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
The ideas stated in this article are obviously related to sound walks. This is because place has everything to do with the type of sounds you will hear. In relation to other media projects, I think that knowing the ways people relate to their place is an important factor in delivering a message to them and how they will respond to it.
The article I chose for my reading response was A New Way of Walking by Joseph Hart. The reason I chose the article was because the title of it was interesting and since I am planning to start my walk within the next week, I thought it would help me. In addition, I saw the term Psychogeography and it was new to me. I looked it up and I thought it was interesting and wondered how they were going to use it in the article.
One of the main points of the article is the way in which media artists approach in different ways Psychogeography. For example, some of the artists mentioned in the article used a map of a different city for the city they were walking in. Other artists use the algorithmic walking method, which consists of “first right, second left, repeat.” Basically what psychogeography is about how we’re affected by being in certain places-it’s just a general sense of excitement about a place, according to Christina Ray. Ray then goes on to explain that most of the people just do habitual walking, not paying attention to the surroundings and not being aware of how much is out there, when it comes to a particular place. Hart then goes on to describe his walk in Albert Lea, MN, and how great of an experience it was for him.
The idea of using a different map from a different place to walk a different city is relevant to my method because I will be using this method for my drift walk. I will be using a map of the Madrid metro and will be following one of the routes and applying it to the city of Milwaukee., starting from the Bradley center on Kilbourn. In addition I will definitely be using the algorithm method for some of my future walks that I am planning to do. Its exciting stuff!!!
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I chose the article On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever by Gary Farrington. The title was the first reason why I selected this article. I really enjoyed the way this article was written. He does a great job of explaining the sounds that he hears, with colorful analogies that make me enjoy the article even more.
2. What are the main points of the essay? In the article, On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever, the author has a couple main points. One is that sound surrounds us every day, and even though we hear common noises that we think aren’t special, the varieties of the sounds alone are enjoyable. He also makes a point that if you listen closely and pay attention to sounds, you can learn a lot from your environment. Just by listening he can tell what type of train is going by, or that the time was quarter past the hour. His other point was that in the winter when the environment calms down, everything gets quieter. Your sense of hearing can reach farther than any other time in the year and it actually feels like you can “hear forever.”
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? It seems that Ferrington doesn’t dislike “city sounds.” It makes a connection between him and the active living world. I think he enjoys all sounds for their own uniqueness, like me, but when everything calms down, when the human environment quiets down with the winter, you can hear sounds that you usually can’t hear which is very enjoyable.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I chose the article On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever by Gary Farrington. The title was the first reason why I selected this article. I really enjoyed the way this article was written. He does a great job of explaining the sounds that he hears, with colorful analogies that make me enjoy the article even more.
2. What are the main points of the essay? In the article, On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever, the author has a couple main points. One is that sound surrounds us every day, and even though we hear common noises that we think aren’t special, the varieties of the sounds alone are enjoyable. He also makes a point that if you listen closely and pay attention to sounds, you can learn a lot from your environment. Just by listening he can tell what type of train is going by, or that the time was quarter past the hour. His other point was that in the winter when the environment calms down, everything gets quieter. Your sense of hearing can reach farther than any other time in the year and it actually feels like you can “hear forever.”
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? It seems that Ferrington doesn’t dislike “city sounds.” It makes a connection between him and the active living world. I think he enjoys all sounds for their own uniqueness, like me, but when everything calms down, when the human environment quiets down with the winter, you can hear sounds that you usually can’t hear which is very enjoyable.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I chose "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. I looked through the titles pretty quickly and this one stood out as being helpful for navigating around on drift one.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The article shows that it is important to break our routes of traveling everyday. Hart shares his own experience in exploring a city using algorithm pattern. In doing so he find interesting things that he probably would not have if he stuck to regular ways of navigating. Breaking our normal habits of walking everyday is good for your health according to psychogeography experts.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? The idea of breaking routine practices of traveling or walking, is pretty much what drift 1 has us end up doing. Hart explores a town using a random pattern to navigate. He finds interesting things by taking the weird route that normally no one would take. This raises the idea that taking a random route on our drift will bring up new and interesting sounds.
1. The reading I choose to write on was “A New Way of Walking” by Joseph Hart. I choose to write on this because it really gave me the sense of how I need to cut away from the norm and doing something different. I found it to be a very interesting topic that I found relevant to what I would like to accomplish on my own sound walks.
2. The main points for to me start off with talking about what phychogeography was. It was explained that it had to sides to it, the psychological side and the geographical side. Over all it is what we are affected by when were at a certain place and how we feel about that place. It goes into explain that most people have one path they fallow everyday and that they just get into a routine that never changes. I know I can do that with going to my classes I have every week. I find the path that is the fastest and easiest and I take it every time. The article is trying to get us to go out and change the normal and take a different route. The article the goes one to explain how one man did an algorithm to walk around a city. It said that if they had just went to places they wanted to and hadn’t let it up to the algorithm they wouldn’t have seen some of the wonderful things they had. Over all this article just wants you to think about the way you do stuff and maybe you need to change how you do it.
3. For me the ideas the article had talked about really affect how I will do my sound walks. I want to just go out and not do the norm and just try and find spots to record. I want to go out and wait for something I think will be worth recording, if that were off the path I thought I wanted to take then great. This article really opened my mind up to the possibilities that could arise if I don’t plan out my exact route and just let fate take me to the sounds. I really am glad I read this article so I could learn how to just let what happens happen.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose to read "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. The title caught my attention because of the recent Sound Walks I have gone on. I have become accustomed to my technique and I was curious to see if any tips or different strategies were shared.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
Hart introduces the term "psychogeography," and defines it by utilizing examples from various artists and a conference in New York were multiple people gathered to explore the many avenues of "psychogeography."
To further our understanding of the term, Hart embarks on an adventure to explore "psychogeography" throughout a destination.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your
own practice as a media artist?
The ideas in this article are relevant to my own practice as a media artist because I try to avoid things that are familiar. I enjoy discovering new things or a new way to walk. I become uncomfortable when something becomes to formal or rehearsed. I really like being spontaneous because I feel that the first idea to come up is the purest. After that, general thought and rules get in the way.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.I found some of these reading to be very interesting and inspiring for the Soundwalks and exercises we've been doing, and for the Drift walks we will be embarking on shortly. I decided to do my reading response on "On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever" By Gary Ferrington. I chose this reading because I enjoyed reading his article and the way he writes about the sounds he experiences. I hope to be able to write with such detail and insight when I share my own Drift walk experiences.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The article is Ferrington's wonderfully detailed account of his surrounding soundscape. The main points I took from this article were:
• LISTEN and listen often.
• Soundscapes are constantly changing. Throughout a day (from morning to night), throughout the years (as a city evolves) and as the seasons change.
• You can learn a lot about your environment (and maybe even appreciate it more) by truly listening to it.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Ferrington's detailed narration allowed me to really experience the sounds along with him. He had such a heightened awareness of his environment's sounds. So focused. As a media artist, I hope I can learn to capture my experience and share it with my audience in the same way Ferrington grasped me with this article.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose to respond to the article "Sounds of the season" by Peterson. I selected this article because I was curious to see what specific sounds they captured, and how they could identify with them. Also, after going over some of the other articles, this one opened my eyes the most.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The article circulated around the idea of natural sounds vs. loud 'annoying' sounds. Peterson identifies sounds with how it relates to our behavior. For example, we hear sounds like leaf blowers, car brakes, and construction projects and consider them annoyances. These sounds take away from hearing natural acoustic sounds, as he put it. Because these sounds are so recognizable, we blurt out any other sound that could be captivating. Sounds we should be listening for should be the wind, or distant noises. He calls these sounds acoustic environments.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Like I had mentioned in the main points, the idea to distinguish annoyances versus natural sounds is very important as a media artist. People expect to hear calming sounds, and those should be the ones that are multiplied. Rather than letting annoyances blockade any chance of preserving what might be a beautiful sound, I've learned to listen more carefully. Since loud gashing sounds are so easily recognizable, I've also chose to omit purposely capturing those sounds, and chose to listen to more unique sounds, that are less recognizable.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose the article "On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever" by author Gary Ferrington. The reason is because of my initial attraction to his descriptive and writing style. I simply liked how he described each of the sounds in separate little paragraphs, allowing the reader to understand each of his sounds, and then think about it before moving onto the next description. Also, I liked this particular reading because I can connect with the author’s imagery of his observations. The way Ferrington explains his observations is similar to how I observe my surrounding world.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The author goes through a variety of sounds that he notices through his days while living in his tenth floor apartment. He describes the morning sounds before the hum of daily constant traffic such as birds singing, garbage trucks loading trash, train whistles in the distance. Ferrington goes into detail about the locomotive and how he hears the difference in each call as a train passes through. He also describes planes flying overhead his apartment high in the sky as well as church bells, and wind blowing from the Northwest. I liked how he talked of two separate church bells and their differences in sounds. The author closes the article depicting the city during wintertime, quiet and snowing, with the absence of many bustling sounds he normally hears.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your
own practice as a media artist?
All my life I have enjoyed simply listening and watching and observing the world around me. I am sure that as a media artist I will continue this, with increased concentration on my surrounding sounds. It seems that Ferrington describes his observations similarly to how I imagine myself describing my observations. As I hear a new sound, I will go into detail and possibly compare the sound, such as Ferrington did in his article and probably in most of his others. That is also one of the reasons I chose the article in the first place, I enjoyed his descriptions.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I chose to read "soundwalking" by Hildegard Westerkamp. I read this article, because just by looking at the title I knew it would relate to what were doing in class. I figured I could learn some useful information, and possibly pick up tips that may help me out with my first drift.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The main points that the article discusses are to really listen to your environment. Expose your ears to every sound around you no matter where you are. The article also mentions to keep in touch with your surroundings. Because, every sound carries a very specific meaning. In the article, Westerkamp also gives advice on how to make your soundwalk more interesting. One of the ideas given, is to bring a friend along to guide you as your blindfolded. This would help focus on your surroundings, while the noises you hear can be more clear and noticeable.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? The ideas discussed in the article are relevant to my own practice as a media artist because it teaches you to really expose yourself to your surroundings. To not only listen closely, but to observe what is going on around you. I think this is a great tip, because it can help you capture something that may not be so obvious to someone who's not really being active with there environment.
I chose the article “Sounds of the Season: Learning to Pay Attention to the Sounds Around Us - Acoustic Ecology” by Ivars Peterson. I chose this article because I find acoustic ecology to be very interesting. I, too listen intently to noises and sounds that occur naturally everyday in my environment. I also found his ideas on what makes a sound irritating or unpleasant very interesting.
One of the main points Peterson makes in this essay is that we tend to take a lot of these naturally occurring sounds for granted. For example, church bells, car noises and leaf blowers can sometimes interrupt our audio flow and seem unpleasant to us, however we do not truly take the time to listen to the sounds that are really presenting themselves. He makes the point that it is not the loudness of a sound that irritates us, it is the nature of the sound that we find unpleasant. A truck is much louder than a leaf blower, however the leaf blower is a less commonly occurring and much more unpleasant sound. He also writes briefly about how sounds that are considered ‘pleasant’ or ‘unpleasant’ differ from person to person and their conflicting tastes. For example, in 17th century England, the upper class was accustomed to their own chamber music, so street noises that others didn’t so much mind, the upper class found unbearable and irritating.
This article is relevant to my experience as a media artist because I do not take these naturally occurring urban environment noises for granted. I listen to and savor all I can because I find them very interesting and intriguing. I plan to continue experimenting with sound recording when we are through with our Drift project, and I plan to record sounds such as the sounds mentioned in this article. I plan to capture and savor simple sounds that we encounter every day and tune out without paying attention to them.
For this response, I have chosen to write about Gary Ferrington’s analysis of his surroundings in “On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever.” In every place I have lived or spent more than a few days time, there are always different - or similar - sound markers that, if paid close enough attention, can identify position, space, size, and time. The examination of his environment, while undoubtedly more detailed than that my own, was similar to the way I enjoy taking in my surroundings and identifying familiar sounds. I chose this article for the way these similarities resonated with my own experiences.
The essay chronicles the sounds Ferrington observed through his window on an early Sunday morning while simultaneously reminiscing on past observations. Starting at around three o’clock in the morning, he scribes the changing soundscape surrounding his Salt Lake City high rise apartment from the scattered peacefulness of the early morning to the bustling Sunday Church crowd. He talks about how his position from the ground, the day of the week, and the clarity of the day – including people and weather – effect the amount of sounds that can be identified and the intensity/qualities of those sounds. He doesn’t necessarily speak negatively or positively about the oft-noisy cityscape, but rather gives credence to the distinctive audible qualities of the peacefulness and the ‘noise.’
The ability to identify patterns of sound in a setting along with the way those sounds react to other ‘interference,’ so to speak, in the environment can be beneficial in many ways. If one were to want to capture video and/or sound in that environment, knowing an advantageous time to do so can be helpful in minimizing extra variables in the equation of sound. Furthermore, knowing what environment would be better suited for a particular project could save valuable time recording and editing. In most mass media productions, time is an ever-present and ever-diminishing factor. For myself as film major, I recognize the importance of the quality and accuracy of sound along with the impact sound has on the overall quality of a piece. Knowing the environment can help me, as an artist, to create better sounding pieces with less overall time and effort needed.
-Joseph Michals
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it. I read the article "What is 'Sense of Place?'" by Jennifer E. Cross. I chose this article because I was interested in what her definition of sense of place was. I personally define sense of place as how one views their immediate surroundings. I felt compelled to find out how others' define this and possibly modify my own personal definition of the phrase.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The main points are giving a more scientific definition of the phrase, and peeling apart the phrase and defining the different elements of the phrase. One portion breaks down all of the various relationships to space. I found this quite interesting because without realizing it we all have vary different ways of viewing our surroundings based on various personal experiences that we may have. The final portion was just tying together all of the different aspects of what creates our own sense of place.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? I believe that they are relevant in that my sense of place has a lot of influence on my work. for example, I frequently travel back to places that I have been to so I can try and relay my own feelings or thoughts of the area through photography. I have found that my sense of place determines what I will take pictures of. I tend to lean toward things that will serve as a constant reminder of various experiences I may have had.
Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
The article that I chose for our first reading response was Guy Debord's “Theory of the Derive”. I felt that this would be a great reading to analyze more in depth since much of our drift projects are based on Debord's theories and experiences surrounding the derive. My drift_1 project is perhaps a bit more structured than many of the derives described by Debord, however there is one point where he touches on the idea of utilizing “old maps, aerial photographs and experimental derives”. I found the translators notes at the end of the article to be particularly helpful in solidifying what exactly the theory of derive suggests. Although I will be utilizing a 126 year old map and train route for drift_1, one definite goal will be to tap into the psychogeography and “go with the flow” while still keeping in mind original concept of trying to traverse the cityscape as a train in 1882.
What are the main points of the essay?
The main points of Debord's article are of course the derive, as well as variations or perhaps evolutions thereof and something called psychogeography. Derive literally translates into drift or drifting. When I think about the word drift, one of the first things that comes to mind is something most of us are probably familiar with, driftwood. Allowing yourself to behave in the manner of a piece of driftwood is not a bad way to begin thinking about a derive, drift or psychogeography. To build on this, lets imagine that you, a lonely piece of driftwood, are navigating the waves in the open ocean or perhaps near the shores of a lake. Also you are special driftwood that has the ability to think, feel, hear and hopefully tap into where exactly the waves are trying to send you. Pretty cool huh? This is where the idea of psychogeography comes in. That's right, the waves are not just randomly sending you in different directions, they want you to end up on a particular beach so that a particular person will find you and use you to mount that beautiful musky they caught a few weeks back. Okay maybe disregard the whole twist of fate, fish-mounting thing. The point is, Debord feels that cities have a certain energy that is available to tap into if done so properly. These energies, he argues, will cause people to navigate said city in a particular manner and furthermore, may cause a wide variety of different people to navigate the same city in a similar manner.
Debord comments that, in terms of the derive, “Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think”.
How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
In terms of my own artistic endeavors, I think it is very important to let go of conventions and preconceived notions. Not only does the derive/drift encourage just this, it also provides a fantastic resource for finding inspiration. Debord's article has inspired me to take a closer look at the idea of collective consciousness, specifically as it relates to the creation of art. Are we all tapping into the same or a similar creative river of consciousness when we set out to create a work of art?
The article I chose was Tim Cresswells, Place: A Short Introduction. The reason why I read this article was because I thought the idea of looking at the meaning of the word place was interesting. The understanding that the word place is not only seen as a geographical feature but so much more made it an appealing subject to read about. Another reason I chose it was because I thought it would be useful with this film class. I have to make decisions on what place I want to go when doing certain research for this class. And I think it would be helpful for me to identify the different meanings of the word place so I can have a better outlook on where I want to go.
The main points of this article are that there are so many different places in the world. This articles states that certain places are identified from their history, and there meaning is very significant. Another main point I think Tim Cressmwells was trying to make is his thought on what makes a place. He talks briefly about the comparison of a child’s room, urban garden and the city. His thoughts on why all these areas are places and not just a room or a spot of entertainment are the main point of this article. These are considered places because they all have meaning. People make places meaningful, interesting and purposeful. This is the main point of the article because it ties the significance of the article and what the author wanted to get across.
These ideas are important for my practice as a media artist because I will have to make the decision about what places I want to go. I know understand that it is very important to pick the right place when developing film or sound because it can be critically important to the outcome of the project. This article helped me allot because I related it to my sound walk. Before going on my sound walk I had to pick the place I thought would be the best. Location was the first aspect in my decision and it was very important. I chose a place that had allot of meaning to myself and others because I knew there would be allot of interaction and great noise to capture. Space and place are very critical elements when experiences with the media.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose "On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever" by Gary Ferrington. It's a very beautifully written, quite descriptive piece. I often have difficulty describing sounds, so articles like these give me an idea of how to put what I hear into words.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
I would say the main idea is the transformation of the soundscape throughout the day, especially in an urban setting. It is more narrative than essay, so there aren’t really main “points” but I will provide a brief summary: Ferrington describes the tranquility of the early mornings (although he admits it has dwindled with the growth of the city), listening to the birds before they are interrupted by the garbage truck. Although it becomes much more hectic afterwards, more like a city, Ferrington says the urban sounds provides a "connectedness between myself and an active living world." He describes how he can decipher the engineer’s code from the noise of the train; the departure and arrival of the planes, describing them as “birds returning to the roost”; the bells of the local churches; and the wind, always the wind, swishing around his high-rise apartment building. Yet, the absence of sound in winter is particularly striking: “When the snow falls and the traffic stops the city becomes strangely quiet.” On these days, Ferrington writes, “I think I can hear forever.”
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
As I've said, I often have difficulty describing and identifying sounds. Many times it's just background noise to me, especially city noise, and I often miss out on the subtleties. For instance, I was surprised to read that Ferrington could tell details about the trains and planes just by listening. It's just like Sherlock Holmes, which is awesome. My soundwalk will take place in a setting very similar to the article’s (it even has railroads and an airport nearby), so I got many useful ideas of what to listen for and how to listen. I certainly believe that reading about these sounds in such a poetic way will give me a greater appreciation for what I come across on the soundwalk.
Reading Response #1
A New Way of Walking
By Joseph Hart
"You'll soon discover that your journey is habitual, that you're slowly wearing a canyon through the same streets, the same sidewalks, day after day." This statement truly moved me and awoke my creative mind for the future work we will be embarking on in this class. The purpose of taking a path that you normally wouldn't is great. Before the task of creating a drift strategy was presented I admit I was already thinking of places in my neighborhood I want to walk by that I have dozens of times, such as the church whose bells toll every hour, and the busy street of North Ave.
However by taking this new path where I'm not quite sure where I will go means that I'm really not sure what sounds I should intend to record.. which is possibly the entire point of this project!
Reading this article basically got me really excited for creating my own strategy and gave me more inspiration. With out reading it I am not too sure I would have the same grasp of the drift walk as I do now.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose the article "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. I selected this article because after surfing through the different options this article seemed most relevant and interesting. Furthermore it really sums up a lot of what we are doing as a class.
2. What are the main points of the essay? The chief idea discussed was "generative psychogeography" and the Hart's take on it when he tries it out for himself. This generative psychogeographs is a strategy for a new way of walking a fixed pattern used to get people to walk in new paths instead of their routine walks.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist? Like I mentioned early it's very relevant. Perhaps the most relevant of all the articles I have read thus far. We are actually creating our own walks ourselves and will partake in this new way of walking!
I chose Jennifer E. Cross' article "What is 'Sense of Place'?", as it was the last of the articles that I looked at.
Cross breaks down how people feel about where they belong, and if they belong at all. She says that people can feel a certain way about a place that is biographical, spiritual, ideological, narrative, commodified, and dependent. Her other idea is how people feel about where they are from, which she calls Community Attachment. She interviewed people in Nevada County, California, and was able to catagorize based on how the people felt about where they felt they belong--whether if it was in their community they live in now, somewhere else, or no where in particular. She broke down these sections as cohesive rootedness, divided rootedness, place alienation, relativity, and placelessness.
I guess this article shone light on the fact that some people don't feel at home no matter where they live. And some people are able to make any place feel home. This is important if you travel for your art to remember that others feel out of place too and some never make the adjustment to feel at home. One other topic the article brought up (mostly with the first set of catagorizations) is that you can question why it is that you are living in a certain place. As artists, it may be what you need to ask yourself if you need to find new inspiration and move.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
- I'm choosing to respond to Hildegard Westerkamp's article, "soundwalking". I chose this because I feel that getting a great drift will really help me advance in this class. Throughout the article she made not of a lot of important subjects that I will later want to keep in mind when I'm doing my soundwalks.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
-Since the first soundwalk that we did as a class I've noticed I've been "listening" a lot more closely to things around me. In Westerkamp's article "soundwalking" the main point that she discusses how hard and how much effort it actually takes to listen to your surroundings. I totally agree with that statement, when you actually listen, you hear so many unique sounds than you ever heard before. Although doing that can be a tough task because our minds are easily distracted. I've noticed in order for me to hear as many sounds as possible I have to close my eyes, so I have one less sense to worry about.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your
own practice as a media artist?
-This article is very relevant to what I want to achieve in this class. I want to get the best drifts that I can. Westerkamp gave some valid points that I will take into consideration when doing my actually drifts. The different techniques that she discussed will really help me develop my ideas.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chosen "A New Way of Walking" by Joseph Hart. I first was over taking the message of the article and how I could relate to the message, because I'm at a stage of my life where I need a new way of walking.
2.What are the main points of the essay? I feel that the experiences of Hart is one the main points because he wants the audience to communicate with each other, another point was generative psychogegraph which was like a replication on are thoughts.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
The sound walk projects are related to the article, I plan to use the same strategies as Joe Hart.
1. Identify the article you have selected adn why you chose it.
I read the article "A new way of walking" by Joseph Hart. I chose this article at radom, and was joyed after picking it like this. It was a very interesting article, and was happy I went on a limb to read it. There is no reason why I chose it, I just thought it would be better if I picked a radom article that way it would be a suprise to me and I would have a bias choice.
2.) What are the main points of the essay?
There are a few main points in this essay, one of the first main points the essay talks about is the coining of a new term. The term being psychogeography, which is a very interesting term for breaking down ones enviroment and finding new wonderful things in it. Another main point in the article is about an artist that uses this new way of discovering places near his home down. He goes out with a set direction and a way of walking and discovers things he would never had noticed by driving in a car. He refered to it as a high being was directing him. This is interesting becuase this is what I could experience on my drift walk, and hope to see what he is talking about when I do mine.
3.) How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Well, this is relevent to me as a media artist becuase I have to perform a project just like the one described in the article. The drift walk is the exact strategy they used to do this walk and find new things. Instead of using my eyes and senses I will be using a mic to capture new sounds in a new enviroment. I am very excited to explore this way of adventure becuase I am sure to find fanisnating new sounds and make a great drift out of them. In the article the artist had great luck on his walk, as I hope to have some of the same luck with my drift walks.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
The article I chose was "Soundwalking," by Hildegard Westerkamp. The reason I chose this article is because our drift 1 is all sound oriented, and I thought it might help.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
I think that the main point of this essay is the fact that we really take sounds for granted. I think that in terms of our senses, we use our visuals the most. People don't really take time to stop and listen to our environment. Then it goes on to talk about a soundwalk at a park in Vancouver, and the different types of sounds heard. It also speaks of different types of sounds. Thud, squeak, continuous sounds etc. This essay really states the importance of sound in terms of orientation by sailors finding their position by whistling and waiting for the echo. Another interesting point of this essay was different sounds that the wind makes, and how it can be either a frightening, or energizing sound.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
I think that this article is extremely important for me as a media artist because I need to know the importance of sound. I think Westerkamp is completely right when he says that quiet or delicate sounds usually go by unheard. I need to take the time to sit and listen to the sounds around me whether they're environmental, mechanical, or human, and in addition to that, it's really going to help me out with my drift 1 soundwalk.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
For this assignment, I chose Gary Ferrington’s essay, “On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever.” Out of all of the articles encountered thus far, I was able to put more of myself and my situation into this reading than any other. I also felt the tone or voice of the essay was done in a very realistic, but tasteful way. The format of the article was very similar to a blog entry- which is also consistent with my current practices.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
Gary Ferrington discusses the struggle to hear any natural sounds in a city not too different from our own. Sitting up in his high-rise apartment, Ferrington has obviously noted several patterns in the city’s sounds. From the hydraulics of the garbage truck to the whistles and horns of a locomotive, Gary has started to piece together a consistent soundscape for his city. Even though Ferrington points out these over powering sounds, he doesn’t resent the residents or rituals of the city life. He finishes by praising the harsh elements of winter- as it is the only time he can hear the “distant Willamette River flowing on its journey to the Pacific.”
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Considering that the majority of my recordings will be conducted in a city setting much like Ferrington’s, I felt the entire article was relevant. This article gave me an idea to perhaps change my recording times. Instead of recording during the middle of the day when people and traffic are common, I could record late at night or very early in the morning to see how the sounds differ. I am sure some of the sounds will be the same, but I can imagine that a lot of the automotive sounds will decrease.
Another bit of information I took away from this essay was the concept of using my media recordings to develop a better understanding of the space I am living in. It was obvious after reading this that Gary was very knowledgeable on different flight schedules, train capacities, and tendencies of the church bells. This intrigues me, because I believe this provides a strong case for listening for familiar sounds on a day-to-day basis to learn how these sounds fit into the cityscape I occupy.
1. Jennifer E. Cross's “What is "Sense of Place"” struck me as an article that would help explain what most people in this world think. It explains all the multiple definitions of what "a sense of place" is referring to. I believe all people are affected by there environment, as well as people, things, and ideas, but only places contain all these things, and as the places change over time, so do there affect on other things, people, and ideas. Being born in South Korea, a country officially less than a century old, but containing a history that dates back to a mythological time period. It is confusing to analyze who I am because of past events that affect my life and where I lived. I always hoped that my sense of place would represent the world to me, but people, places, and ideas all change people's perspective and that perspective is a part of who I ultimately am.
2. The article handles the idea of a "sense of place" very analytically, breaking it down into a multitude of categories. The social scientists categories includes anthropological, environmental psychological, geographical, landscape architecture/history, and sociological. They bring up ideas like how we get to know places by experiencing them over some course of time, or perhaps it is more of a symbolic relationship that is culturally shared, or perhaps it is our subjective interpretation of an environment and our emotional reaction to it. The article also identifies a table of relationships one can have to a place, be it biographical (person history), spiritual, ideological (living ethically with people, narrative (external views of the place, commodified (choosing a place to be ideal), and dependent (constrained by people, economic opportunity, etc.. Lastly it contains typography for people's satisfaction of a place. If a person is rooted to a place, they are either cohesive (ideologically committed) or divided, in which they are more dependent on the community are have split identity with their environment and other things (like having another hometown). Other senses of place include place alienation (having a desire to leave, but no ability to), Relativity (to live ideally in whatever place) and placelessness (a lack of emotional attachment to any specific place like transients and nomads. The article concludes that places impact people psychologically, and internationally, which can be positive and negative interactions upon environments. It also some places have spiritual like qualities that similarly impact many people different, like the Grand Canyon, and that these places affect people both short and long term.
3. As a media artist, I believe that setting always affects video media, and can be the most essential aspect. Video allows people to perceive new environments, sometimes from other people’s perspectives, and by understanding how people consider themselves in these environments allows artists to make people feel however they want. I always consider place and distance as having a direct relationship with time. Where we are enables new possibilities, but also limits all other new possibilities at a given moment, therefore it is important to know where really want to be. I like how the article lists people who can adapt or have no preference in allowing an environment to rule there life. It makes me want to experience the feeling of a transient lifestyle (something I’ve always been interested in) so that I can create films that represent new ways of seeing things. Most importantly, the articles makes me realize that there are innumerable ways in which all my past environments affect me and don’t effect me, and that I can take in an environment anyway I choose.
Daniel Dillig
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I selected "On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever" just because i liked how it pointed out all the little sounds around us.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The article is just an illustration of how we notice all the little sounds of our environment and become familiar with them even if we dont realize it.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
Seemed relevant as a reminder that we hear an awful lot around us in the city, we just have to listen to it.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
I chose the article "Sense Of Place" by Jeniffer E. Cross. I chose it because it seemed interesting. I was curious to what Sense of place might mean because I have heard people say it on many occasions but I never really understood it. I also thought it might help me figure out my own sense of place.
2. What are the main points of the essay? This article has many definitions of sense of place. So the main point is that there are many definitions to sense of place based on how a person feels about a place. It puts into perspective the many ways people can feel an attachment such as biographical, spiritual, ideological, narrative, commodified, and dependent. It also goes into detail about the types of community attachment people have. It gives a very detailed definition of sense of place.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
I think this this article will help me in critically thinking about the places I go on my sound walk. It will help me to convey the surroundings I am in. In a way that might make more sense to someone else now that I have a clear definition of the many ways a place can make someone feel or think.
I chose the article what is "Sense Of Place"? by Jeniffer E. Cross because the title intrigued me. We often here the expression "I've got a sense of this place", but do we actually have a sense of this place and our surroundings, so I wanted to read and find out.
The main points of the article, especially the main point is how a person encounters a place and experiences and reacts to it. They might have a special bond or relationship with this place that may develop over time and allow them to get a "sense of this place". The article gives many definitions of the sense of place. The categories of these definitions are biographical, spiritual, ideological,and narrative. Other categories include anthropological, environmental psychological, geographical, landscape architecture/history, and sociological.
As a media artist, and especially as I continue to go on my sound walks I will try to develop a sense of this place that I am in through the sounds I hear, the things I see and how I react and experience these sights and sounds. Those experiences allows us to get a sense of our surroundings and as a media artist it is crucial to be aware of where you are, your surroundings and to especially makes sense of it all, because if we didn't, we would be lost.
Post a Comment