THE SOUND SITUATION

ON STANTON STREETJenni MällinenFrederico Andrade

“HE WHO SLEEPS IN CONTINUAL NOISE IS WAKENED BY SILENCE.”

William Dean Howells

HYPOTHESISThis experiment seeks to explore and demonstrate the effects of “white noise” in our daily lives. It has become quite evident to us after recording for several hours that the sound pollution the residents of 101 Stanton Street receive is detrimental in more than an emotional way.

“SIGHT ISOLATES, WHEREAS SOUND INCORPORATES; VISION IS DIRECTIONAL, WHEREAS SOUND IS OMNI-DIRECTIONAL. THE SENSE OF LIGHT IMPLIES EXTERIORITY, BUT SOUND CREATES AN EXPERIENCE OF INTERIORITY. I REGARD AN OBJECT, BUT SOUND APPROACHES ME; THE EYE REACHES, BUT THE EAR RECEIVES.”

Juhani Pallasmaa

INITIAL THOUGHTS

Our project began as a physical exploration of the manifestations of sound. We had initially planned a sculpture through which the viewer would be able to infer the sound patterns that occurred throughout the night and, more generally speaking, the week.It soon became evident to us that the sculpture was not the best way to approach this concept, given the notion that we would be presenting to our audience a visual experience. From that, we determined that a visual experience is much less invasive, less emotionally unbalancing and a lot more arbitrary than an audio piece and for that reason we chose to move away from the sculpture altogether.

“THE NOCTURNAL SOUND IS A REMINDER OF HUMAN SOLITUDE AND MORTALITY, AND IT MAKES ONE CONSCIOUS OF THE ENTIRE SLUMBERING CITY”

Juhani Pallasmaa

OR NOT SLUMBERING CITY…

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We soon decided that the best way for us to approach this project would be to present an edited audio piece with the help of a visual aid. We worked on the idea of a visual aid and developed an equalizer and a strobe light.Upon further reflection, we deemed that neither of these allowed for the true meaning of our piece to come forward. It was much more about the physical impact of the sound on us as people than it is about anything else.