In Hear, Out there: Yokohama

Created specifically for and exhibited within the Dislocate Festival event (www.dis-locate.net), Tokyo/Yokohama, Japan. Creation: 3 – 13th September 2008, exhibit: 13th – 21st. 

Work and work process are documented upon a separate blog, please visit: http://inhearoutthere.wordpress.com

Overview of general “In hear, Out there” ethos:

I shall be constructing and presenting a sonic work which utilizes locative media technologies, specifically GPS, as a means to create a virtual sound overlay upon a particular place. This augmentation is to be the palette of another place, be that near or far away. Hence, a hybrid place is created: we still ’see’ and the ‘feel’

the present place but our sound sense is now altogether different. Thus, the experience of being within the host locale has altered. 

Through the juxtaposition of sound upon image (as described above) i am able, for whatever purposes, to highlight difference or similarity between places in a powerful and unique manner. I am able to amplify, distort or contrast situational elements. Furthermore, through contemplation upon what is heard and what is seen, the engaging participant is encouraged to re-evaluate their understanding of the immediate location.  

In order to achieve the above (the relocation of sonic structures, paths or motifs from one place into another) a large catalogue of sound must be gathered, edited and thoughtfully redistributed. Therefore, this work is very much a Ethnographic piece: a sound document is created which acts as record of place. I must study this sound material in relation to the total sensation of a location and seek to provide evidence of what place ‘is’, what makes it unique or what universal rulings is it governed by.”

Yokohama work:

“In Hear, Out there: Yokohama” explored the urban green belt surrounding the Yokohama Stadium. The site was originally expected to serve the city in one particular manner: to accommodate the stadium’s pedestrian traffic. However, the space has been renegotiated by the surrounding community and has become a centre for a diverse number of activities. Furthermore, this alteration to use, adaptation of place, occurs continually throughout the day, week, month or beyond. The work acknowledged this phenomenon and provided sound document of it. This evidence was then distributed throughout the stadium site, providing the participant with an ability to spatially explore the many temporal faces of park complex whilst making a comparison with the present condition. 

Video Document:

Document of a locative sound project entitled “In Hear, Out there: Yokohama”. Sound is presented binaurally and represents that heard by a participant navigating through the Yokohama Stadium complex, Japan. The work utilised a mobile device with GPS capability.

In Hear, Out there: Yokohama IS GO

I’ve been here nearly a week taking part in the Dislocate festival (www.dis-locate.net) and beginning to create the next “In Hear, Out there”. I have a blog for this work, check:

http://inhearoutthere.wordpress.com

As well as an overview of the work there is also a daily upload of gathered sound – a demonstration of the great, often intense, sound environment in operation here in Japan.

Big Bee, Hebden Bridge Fringe

Sound composition projected within the Hebden Bridge Fringe, Yorkshire, Uk. Specific date unknown, within 27th June – 13th July 2008

At some point, somewhere within hebden bridge… from the bridge, within the town, out in the woods… a short sound composition of mine was projected. My blurb on the work:

“Short composition created from small amount of creative filtering and recordings within and around a beehive. Hence, the bees have become amplified and gigantic. Furthermore, the more they swarm, the more they resonant – their frantic activity creating music.”

Check: http://www.thefringehb.org.uk/members/soundartists

Upcoming: Dislocate 2008

News is that i’m off to Tokyo/Yokohama for three weeks (September 3-22nd) to partake in the Dislocate festival. I’ll be creating a new version of “In Hear, Out there”.

Although i’ve not defined the exact premise – i’m thinking it might be an exchange of urban sound from Dublin and Belfast with Yokohama and Tokyo. Hence, participants in Yokohama will hear the sounds of Belfast city and vica versa. Thus, correlations and contrasts in urban form will become apparent.

Check: http://www.dis-locate.net/
and for previous “In hear, out there”

Present Place

3 week experimentation and 1 week Exhibition within the PS2 gallery, Belfast. In response to the venue’s “Sounding out Space” series. 5 June -5 July 2008

See work blog, which includes contributions from each day of the project: http://presentplace.wordpress.com

Location: PS2 (Paragon Studios 2), Donegall Street, Belfast

23m² project space, with its public exposure to the street through shop front windows. Located within Cathedral Quarter amongst Belfast’s creative industry outlets, night life and independent retailers.

Series overview:

“Sounding out Space” will provide a series of explorative projects which explore aspects of ‘space’ and ‘place’ (architectural, emotional, historical, practical..) of specific focus is the PS2 project space, with its exposure to the street. The space is to be subjected to a wide range of multidisciplinary approaches; artists, musicians, choreographers, interior designers, refurbishment people, tenants…. Each participant will contribute a creative statement toward the constitution of the host locale.

Premise: 

“Present Place” is the culmination of my activity within the PS²  project space over a three-week period. This has been an act of both creative sound practice and ethnographic documentation.

In total over 8 hours of sound recordings have been assessed. These provide document of the sonic character of the space at varying times of day and differing days of the week. From this catalogue a number of short samples (generally 3 minutes in length) have been created that either account a typical ‘din’ or salient event. These fragments have been collected together and appropriately arranged. The resulting collage is projected back into the space through speakers positioned in reference to the original recording locations.

The projected sound composition is juxtaposed against the present resounding activity within the space. The augmenting and real sound layers exhibit a strong correlation and relation (they are both ‘of’ the same place). The listener is thus easily drawn into creating synthetic connections between the two: they struggle to clarify whether sound is real or a speaker projection, they believe that recorded elements are properties of present events (seen visually) and distrust real sounds that raise above the ordinary, supposing that they are the aesthetic inclusions of the artist. The result is an uncanny experience, one of apprehension, surprise and unease.

In support of the above, the configuration of the installation recollects the cinema: the front window as the screen and the actual and augmenting soundscapes providing the soundtrack. This analogy is continued throughout the presented composition: The sound work has been accented with a series of scenes which form a stark narrative and outline how the space could be, or has been, inhabited. These constructed events, played out in real time within real space, feed the viewers curiosity and provide further incarnations of ‘the uncanny’. 

Below pictures courtesy of Fiona Larkin, above is the original invite image created by Matt Green

In Hear, Out there: Madrid

Original proposal selected by MediaLab-Prado for creation within the Inclusiva.net workshop/conference, Madrid, March 3-14 2008. In continuation, work was exhibited within MediaLab, 26 March – 18 May 2008

Primarily, work created in collaboration with Maria Priesto and Andrew Henley. 

Work awarded “Second prize” in the international new media art competition “Culturas 2008″ within the category of “Coordinates: states of change”. For more details see http://www.2008culturas.com

“In Hear, Out There” is a locative-art installation anchored to the central space of AZCA, Madrid.

This project takes the park of AZCA as an uncompleted canvas. It deals with an intercultural dialogue between place and memory, in the interplay of digital technologies and the histories of the chosen space.

The work injects the sensation of three public amenities into AZCA: an Opera House, a Botanic Garden and a Library. These are previous designs for AZCA, a site which sought to provide the most modern and ‘European’ space in Spain. The project evokes this forgotten expectation through the creation of an audiovisual, interactive urbanscape inspired by three of Madrid’s most emblematic facilities: Teatro Real, Real Jardín Botánico, and Biblioteca Nacional. Sounds and images from those places are spatialized in AZCA.

“In Hear, Out There” is an augmented, Hyper-real urban experience.

The work is delivered through a PDA mobile device and develops according to the GPS position of the user. Through this method, fully rendered 3D sound structures can be formed. These are accompanied by exemplary visualizations.

“In Hear, Out There” is intended as a collaborative, unlimited montage of the contemporary city.

Our website houses an audiovisual presentation of the project within AZCA upon an interactive editable map. Our aim is to provide a means for the upload and download of audiovisual data from and into mapped locales. In this way, this work is to be an “evolutionary installation,” an open interactive archive for public engagement. 

For more extensive information on the project please visit the blog: http://195.53.62.237/inhearoutthere/ or Medialab-Prado’s site: http://medialab-prado.es/article/2_encuentro_inclusiva-net_resumen_de_proyectos_seleccionados

Additional thanks to Artur Vidal, Horacio González, Luis Ayuso and Carlos Panero Zurbriggen for their assitance and contributions within the workshop. 

Check here for video demonstrating the audio projection experienced by participant’s as they navigate the far corner of AZCA where the virtual Opera has been created:

“A Typology for Listening in Place”

Paper presented at ‘Mobile Music Workshop’, Vienna, May 13-15 2008. Written in collaboration with Pedro Rebelo (SARC, UK) and Florian Hollerweger (SARC, UK).

“Sound technologies, particularly mobile and locative media technologies, can provide unique listening experiences within situations that are not themselves exclusive zones for sonic projection, meditation or exploration. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of locative sound design by presenting a framework consisting of three spatial archetypes: the Theatre, the Museum and the City. These serve as metaphors through which we can articulate different types relations between listener, sound and place. The Mobile Music Player has been chosen as an example of a listening condition that both characterizes and traverses the Theatre, the Museum and the City listening archetypes.”

“Musique Concrète” Workshop

One off workshop within the “Two places” sound art programme for Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast (Feb 2008 )

A small group of partcipants were lead through a days training upon how to record in the field (through a sound walk within belfast) using a variety of microphone and hardware. In addition, back in the gallery, they were introduced to some basic editing techniques and with these skills created short “Musique Concrète” inspired sound compositions. 

http://www.ormeaubaths.co.uk

Details on the “Two Places” exhibit: http://www.twoplaces.ul.ie/

Ableton Live Workshop

Tuition upon ‘Ableton Live’ through the Digital Arts Studio (DAS), Queen’s Street Studios, Belfast (Last: October 2007 part of Visonic Festival, next expected November 2008 )

My blurb from the original ad:

“Queens Street Studio presents a short workshop demonstrating the music production package Ableton Live. This course will introduce the attendees to computer recording, editing, mixing and mastering techniques. Furthermore, a detailed overview of the unique live capabilities of this software will be provided. Ableton Live has quickly become the new instrument of choice for many innovative DJs and cutting edge bands – don’t miss out on your chance to join the music revolution!”

http://www.queenstreetstudios.net/digital_studios/index.html

Scrapyard Challenge

Local audio expect for Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Katherine Moriwaki’s traveling workshop “Scrapyard Challenge”. Part of BBC Blast’s media weekend, Glasgow, Sept 2007.

Lead a group of young people through hardware hacking techniques and, in continuation, the creation of unique, personal, digital musical instruments from these components.

I believe Jonah and Katherine still run these workshops, visit: http://www.scrapyardchallenge.com/

BBC Blast is a nationwide initiative that provides young people with information and assistance on new media practice (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/)