Soundwalk Study
1.Concept
This is the description we learned in class about what "soundwalks" is.
I also looked for some other descriptions of soundwalks.
Young(2017) said that a soundwalk can take many different forms. Both using headphones and removing them to pay attention to your surroundings are possible. It may be listened to as a stand-alone work in the comfort of your home room or enjoyed on a real stroll, leading you through a live trip.
Hildegard Westerkamp, a professor and composer, defined soundwalking as "any journey whose fundamental objective is listening to the surroundings" in 1974. According to Westerkamp, soundwalking encourages deep listening, which strengthens our hearing and enables us to form a more intimate, nuanced connection with the soundscapes around us, bringing us closer to the natural world.
Therefore, I think of Sounwalk as an auditory-led excursion, a brief walk out of reality with ears.
2.Example
Alaska (Josie Holtzman&Isaac Kestenbaum, 2014)
Alaska is an audio project that allows viewers to experience the work on a walk in two local areas (their pre-designed Nodal Points and Liminal Space), which contains priceless, truly heartbreaking conversations with Alaskan natives about changing environments, animal migration, customs around food harvesting and preparation, and, of course, personal experiences. We were allowed into people's kitchens and heard wind, ice cracks, dogs barking and other sounds. According to Holtzman, sound is "a very immersive medium" and this piece really takes us there.
Reference List
Slaskow (2014) Blast from the past: Audio project reminds us that times, and Temps, are changing, Grist. Available at: https://grist.org/climate-energy/blast-from-the-past-audio-project-reminds-us-that-times-and-temps-are-changing/ (Accessed: April 1, 2023).
Westerkamp, H. (1974) Soundwalking, Are.na. Available at: https://www.are.na/block/3189193 (Accessed: April 1, 2023).
Young, J. (2017) What is a Soundwalk?, Flypaper. Available at: https://flypaper.soundfly.com/features/soundfly-explores/what-is-a-soundwalk/ (Accessed: April 1, 2023).
Soundwalk scene record
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Download S2.mp4
S2.mp4 Details
- Saturday, 01 April 2023 [1.4MB]
Soundwalk-Small Project
1.Who
This soundwork project was done by me, Danni Shi and Xi Chen.
2.Why
We work, study, and live on campus that we know every day – but we usually use our eyes to pay attention to how A building to G building goes, how spring flowers bloom... We can say that we are very familiar with school, but what if you confiscate your vision and use your hearing to rediscover the path you walk every day? Is the campus as familiar as ever?
We hope that the audience can slow down the pace during this journey, get rid of the dependence on sight, and use the sense of hearing, touching even smelling to get to know our campus again, get close to nature and gain a different experience and feeling.
3.What
We designed a route with 2 nodal points and 1 liminal space, and chose the bridge because the material of the bridge is different and the feeling will remind the viewer where they have been.
At the beginning of the soundwalk, we invite 2-3 volunteers to complete the route blindfolded, and there will be a guide next to them to ensure their safety, during which the experiencer can ask to stop touching the surrounding objects but not remove the blindfold until the end of the tour.
4.Review
Once again, we thank the volunteers who cooperated with us that day, and I experienced it myself.
Here are some video photo recordings of the scene：
We also received some feedback after the experience
1.Walking blindfolded is very insecure.
2.During walking, you need to listen to the sounds around you to identify what is happening at the moment (hearing is mobilized)
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