honest sounds
2020
The following 20 minute video tracks a year-long exploration I embarked on during my third year of BA Design in 2020. The film captures the nature of my work that year; a journey of discoveries, trying to navigate my chasing a spark.
My tutor CJ described it in a way that had resonated:
You have your sun, which is your topic
and without being able to look at it directly,
you examine it from its surrounding planets.
Or something along those lines. I gather information,
study pulling forces between them, measure conditions, light,
through a series of experiments.
I try to get a
to touch a
and come close to explaining how
this one excercise: make a sound, became
my slow burning fuel.
Traversing through forms of signifiers
to catch a glimpse of signified
the series of experiments:
glimpse of sun
distance,
humidity,
words into
visuals
no word
conversation
small talk
visual
conversation
'make a sound' excercise
sound
choreography
The same way we predominantly rely on sight in collecting sensory information, our words may be our predominant sense in the sphere of communication. We rely on them single-handedly to carry our thoughts and feelings.
What do the words i miss you or i ate an entire egg feel like on the skin? I want to transform words, subvert them.
When meeting someone, resist the instinct to fill the static silence and utter those introductory words.
Initially this experiment was a (pre-covid) face to face interaction aimed at delaying the moment of first vocal contact (touch, sound, facial expressions).
Now, it has become a set of no-word visual conversations performed remotely.
I’m not looking to replace language, words have a clear and necessary purpose.
What I want, is to explore their liberation. What happens when we momentarily take them out of the equation?
Can you converse merely through interjections and remarks?
Still, sounds they tangle with us, and our perception of their resonance becomes a hybrid. Our notions, ideas and experiences; termites latching onto objects, feeding off an action, some remark.
*Remember to wear your phone voice before you pick up the phone*