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By Charlotte and Lee Hwa

Project Proposal

This project is an interactive soundscape installation that allows participants to experience a series of sounds that are built-up progressively through overlapping and layering techniques to evoke anxiety. This installation is created to show that participants are able to experience anxiety using solely the sense of hearing instead of the commonly paired senses of sight and hearing (Horror Films) or hearing and touching (e.g. Haunted Houses).

This installation would have participants placed within a brightly lit confined space, blindfolded for 2 minutes. The created space would be empty, with just only a stereo speaker in place for projection of the soundscape. Participants will be split up into smaller groups of four to five people each for maximum experience and asked to put on blindfolds to remove their sense of sight. They will then be guided by the curators to the installation space to experience the soundscape. Once the soundscape ends, participants will be asked to remove their blindfolds so that they can see the space and realise that all the while they were in empty space with nothing but just a soundscape playing in the background; realise that one is able to experience anxiety with just his sense of hearing. Participants will be allowed to stay on and quiety observe the rest of the participants’ experience and all will be invited to share their afterthoughts of the installation experience at the end of the session.

The anxiety-evoking soundscape would be made up of sounds produced and recorded by the foley technique or copyright-free sounds found online. Also, the reason for allowing each group that has experienced the installation to stay on is because alternatively, they can use found objects around them to help contribute to the soundscape they hear. This brings about interactivity in terms of role reversal – From participant to having a reign over the creation of sounds. Overall it is a soundscape created by repetition. Based on David Sonnenschein’s seven categories of sound, the sounds used in the soundscape will be soft to loud in intensity, slow to fast in speed, tonal in timbre and reverberant in shape. The interactive component comes in where participants get to interact with the space as they are able to move around freely while experiencing the installation. Alternatively, they can choose to stay in the same spot; it is up to them on their next move.

Process

Research & References/Material Samples
These were two soundscapes we chanced upon on youtube and used them as reference and inspiration for ours thereafter. For the idea of repetitive sounds in the soundscape:

For the idea of building up on speed of the sounds (fast and slow) in the soundscape:

Inspiration for the ringing noise:

A scene from the movie Saving Private Ryan that we viewed in class where at that one particular moment, the noises become muffled. In the case of our soundscape we got inspired to introduce a high ringing frequency noise. Another reference we had when creating our soundscape for the installation is a sound artist whom Lei suggested to us to check out to get an idea of working with surround sound for our sound installation: Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller – The Murder Of Crows (2008) http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/murder_of_crows.html Some of the sound excerpts from the installation:

Challenges Faced
We intended to book a four-walled space initially and these are the places we had in mind ranked in order to match our ideal set-up that was submitted in our original project proposal.

  • Empty space outside 2D Animation Lab (ART B1-4a)

  • The next backup location would be the meeting room on Level 4

  • Lastly, our Foundation 4D II Classroom (ART 02-23A) as a last resort

But you know, we eventually settled for our last listed location. Our 4D II Classroom we use for weekly classes only because when we wrote in to check the availability of location we did not get a reply. Not sure why though but settling with the classroom turned out for the better for so many reasons, logistics especially. We made use of the classroom to create a more confined installation space rather than using the whole class space. Mainly for safety precaution as participants would be blindfolded it would be less hazardous if they are kept in a smaller area with obstacles cleared. The
“confined space” as seen below.

Our test-trial

We tested out our installation according to our original set-up prior to installation day and here was how it looked like as a scale drawing:

Our scale drawing of the original set-up

Here’s the documentation of our test trial. We had 3 of our friends who very so kindly spared us a little of their time to help us test out our installation, whether the soundscape had any effect and if the installation space worked.

For the test trial we used just normal bluetooth speakers that didn’t have the surround sound effect so feedback from our friends was that it would be good if we could use stereo speakers instead, like the one in the classroom. Great thing was we happened to find a portable one that was placed below the television set in class and we need not go through booking procedures to use it. The sound system was awesome. The reverb was amazing and the soundscape effect was much stronger.

The soundscape wise, they suggested to make it less monotonous in a way that the one we originally tried out on them sounded very flat. There wasn’t much sounds that would make them anxious, the loudness and softness of the sounds in the soundscape could be more varied and also the ringing noise towards the back could be more intense. There was also suggestion for us to carry out the installation in total darkness as when they put on the blindfolds, they can still vaguely see the light source from below; being in total darkness helps build up the anxiety emotion.

Execution

How the sounds were created:
Our idea for soundscape was to create a tonal background contrasting with a high pitch sound to evoke anxiety. Foreground sound is created by hitting against the stairs rail that moves away from cliche Anxiety soundscape that utilises heartbeat or breathing. Our background tonal sound was created through garageband, that starts from a high note to a lower note. We then overlay it with the sound we recorded from the stairs, the reason why we chose the rail is because of the reverb that it produce and contrasting it to a low tonal background would create a tension. Further editing was then done in audacity.

Additionally to have a more immersive soundscape, we edited the sound perspective to give the feeling on the sound coming closer and to the back, the speed is also increase to build on the tension. We also added a ringing sound as to break away from repetition sound pattern, which helps to intensify the entire sound at the back.

The day of installation:

What went well: The impromptu decision of having the front groups of participants stay on to help contribute to the live sounds using found objects made the soundscape sounded even more real and thanks to the favourable weather conditions that day (it was raining). That made the installation space really dark and the extra sounds made by the thunder added on well to the reverb of the soundscape which really helped us achieve the emotion we wanted to evoke through our soundscape, anxiety as most felt fear which is an emotion linked to that. Our initial plan was to have participants stay on so that they do not return to the holding space and discuss it with the rest who haven’t experienced it. It would have spoiled the anticipation and also it would have been too boring just to sit there and observe the rest so why not contribute to their experience?

Some documentation of our installation: Before entering the installation space – giving instructions, leading the way



During the installation – the experience, interactivity between participants and the installation (contributing to the soundscape using found objects in the room)

Pardon our blurry and pixelated images (after editing) as this was the best we could get for our installation that happened in total darkness. Video footage wise it was way worse, nothing could be seen only the sounds can be heard thus we settled for image documentation this time round on the official installation day.

What could be better improved: We should have worked out a way such that all groups would be able to experience role reversal interactivity bit of the installation plus have the live sounds created be equal across all groups for a fair experience of the installation. For our case of execution we could have personally added the live sounds for the first group.

Overall, we felt that working with sounds for an installation to begin with is already a challenge what more creating sounds to evoke a particular emotion without trying to go for the narrative style/flow. This soundscape in particular as the emotion we were trying to evoke from participants was anxiety which could seemingly fall under as a sub-emotion under bigger emotions such as depression, stress etc. How one interprets a sound that they hear is very subjective but we think we managed to pull it off thanks to our classmates’ live sound contributions, our impromptu decision and of course the gloomy weather that day which made the atmosphere even better. Even though the deadline was tight, and the stress levels were high especially when it came to logistics, it was still a fun project to work on an explore!

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Before coming up with a proposal and a solid idea to execute as a group effort for this final project for 4D II we are asked to do individual research on works on either video/sound/performance art and analyse the respective artists and their works, how some of them might be controversial. I am leaning more towards the exploration of using sound for the final art installation project.

Before searching up some examples, I searched up the meaning of sound installations and got the impression that it is a time-based art which sometimes can involve the element of visual to help support/complement the installation as a whole or change it to become a video art installation altogether. With the intention to explore the idea of using sound for the final project’s art installation, below are some that I’ve found interesting and possibly usable as references and inspiration.

I couldn’t really find much sound art installations that were deemed as controversial but my personal take on this would be that the whole idea of a sound art installation itself is actually controversial. Reason being that if you were to take in a sound art installation that is purely made up of sounds only, sure it’s meant to evoke a feeling in the consumers through the listening experience however the sounds are subjected to one’s perception as it’s pretty abstract. And because of that, artists that work with solely sound for their installations are able to get away with touching on controversial ideas. Unless the work includes the other elements like visual in the form of a video/image accompaniment where the audience gets an even clearer idea of how they are supposed to interpret the installation piece.

Haroon Mirza

Here’s one sound artist that has faced a little controversy though with his work I suppose – Cross Section of a Revolution (2011) which has two films being juxtaposed. One on cultural tradition and the other, a political movement and accompanying the installation is an electronic sound that gives a sense of anxiety to the work as the whole. Looking further, one is of drummers at a ceremony in Kenya and the other is about a man in Lahore making a speech about terrorism.

Quoting an article by theguardian on his work:

“ Mirza recorded his drummers at “a stick-fighting ceremony where the groom has to fight for his bride. My attention shifted to the drummers, who provided the driving force to the ceremony.” They drum on plastic bottles, anything that comes to hand. “A subtext,” he says, “is the place of music in Islamic culture. In some Islamic cultures, music is forbidden. An underlying theme to my work is a criticism of religious faith, and the dogmas involved in religious faith.” “

Easily when there’s culture/religious faith involved in a work of art, there’s bound to be controversy involved, people questioning the work as it could be sensitive to the identified groups. In this case, the people of that religious faith. It could get a little touchy with how the artist portrayed his topic through the installation piece.

John Cage

Taking a look at his famous or rather infamous piece 4′33″ (1952), this work of his probably fits the idea of performance art more since there’s a subject involved during the performance but I’ll be looking more at his interesting take on the use of sound in this piece.

Cage’s intention with the piece was to have the composition be made up of sounds present in the environment encouraging people to listen to the sounds around them but the impression they got in return was that they were subjected to silence because there was an a pianist present but he did not play anything after taking his place on stage. The sounds of the piece were actually made by the whispers that came from them which became louder as they grew more curious about what was happening in front of them.

Cage’s intentions eventually sparked controversy about the piece since the audience thought they were treated to silence for the whole performance duration of 4 minutes and 33 seconds.

Susan Philipsz

Next looking at how sound art has developed over the years, the public has definitely become more receptive about it possibly thanks to Susan Philipsz who was awarded the Turner Prize in 2010. One of the most controversial awards around because of its history, the questioning on how some past awardees works could’ve possibly been that good to actually have a meaningful effect on the reputations of well-established artists because of their actions and approach.

Philipsz primarily works with sound and her works often consist of nothing more than an empty gallery and a recording of her own singing and sometimes she would build soundscapes into unusual locations i.e. playing a entirely unrelated recording at her selected site for the installation. Nonetheless, her receiving the award helped sound art gained increasing exposure and is now in a better state of reception.

Lowlands Away (2010) is one such example of Philipsz’ style as mentioned above. She recorded three versions of this particular song which is of a man drowned at sea returning to tell his lover of his death and it was first performed under three bridges over the River Clyde in Glasgow and later on in an empty room at Tate Britain.

Jim Green

Leaning away from the controversial side of sound installations and looking at the idea of having an environment as part of a installation just like Cage’s intention with the use of environmental sounds,  I came across sound artist Jim Green who does it rather well.

For instance with his work below, Talking Fence (2010). How the installation functioned was when people walked past the installation site lined with fencing, activated by a sensor, it would trigger the fence to talk and interact with the passersby giving them compliments etc.as they walk by. Below’s a documentation of the installation piece and the responses from the public were great.

While browsing through more his works I chanced upon another of his installations which was amusing and brilliant – Laughing Escalator (2004). What I get out of this earlier dated work of his is that it has  the same intention like his later piece, Talking Fence above which aims to encourage greater interaction from the public with his works and bring across the connection with everyday life.

What I like about these two particular works of his is his attempt to make relatable and approachable to the public with that light-hearted and amusing touch to it. Keeping this in mind, it’ll be interesting to explore the idea of making our final installation art work based on something that the audience can resonate with.

 

References:

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Pins & Needles

The soundscape is best experienced using earpiece/headphones 🙂

ARTIST STATEMENT

Inspired by Foley and how the mind works when asleep, Pins & Needles is a psychological soundscape that evokes a sense of anxiety through three kinds of common nightmares painted using sounds. A dreamscape of broken continuity, the soundscape is layered with sounds that stimulate nervousness, the ticking sound provides a built-up and countdown. Or perhaps the suggestion that it is all just a dream – The sound of a clock ticking. A specific sound is used to draw the listener back to reality at the end.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Concept wise when we first got the brief I had zero idea on what to make my soundscape about. I was thinking of doing a sonic portrait since it sounded pretty cool – Making one paint a picture of the person just based on sounds but at the same time I figured it would’ve challenging as the person you have in mind (if taken the personal approach of creating a sonic portrait of your loved one), the sounds would’ve been very personal, unique and only recognisable to you yourself. It could be solved actually if I were to do a sonic portrait of someone famous perhaps… but didn’t go ahead with that anyway.

Still clueless, I just played around with the SFXs available on GarageBand first and put together some free sounds downloaded from freesound.org . Boy, GarageBand offered some really great sound effects for use! Eventually I came up with something for consult and the idea of an anxiety-invoking dreamscape kind of worked out from there.

Especially after I came across this website that lists the types of common nightmares one tends to get and I got ideas: http://listverse.com/2012/10/31/top-10-nightmares-and-their-meanings/

Painting scenes of claustrophobia, being chased, and being followed, these were some I had in mind and kind of went ahead with them.

Feedback was to have more layers (foreground/midground/background), to have a focus in each ‘scene’, have more variations (ASMR, Left & Right sounds) as it sounded kinda flat and a bit soft initially.

RESEARCH: THE REFERENCES

For research, the artists and video links were really helpful in getting a sense of what soundscapes are about and how we could go about them. I was super fascinated by Foley in particular and while browsing more videos of it on YouTube I chanced upon this TED Talk about sound design and it was a really interesting watch on how sounds can be deceiving sometimes.

One of the Foley videos I chanced upon (below). Foley was the main reference/style used to get the sounds for this soundscape. There wasn’t any specific artist/film that I referenced for my soundscape in particular.

Even Disney films in the past used the Foley technique!

CHALLENGES FACED

Plenty. Conceptualising was really hard. When we first got the brief I thought, yeah a soundscape would be easy, especially when it was just a minute long initially. I underestimated the difficulty of it. We just needed to come up with the idea and when the right sounds are produced, everything will just work out. I thought wrong. Especially when producing the sounds, there’s a lot of trial and error, a lot of exploration to get the right sounds needed for the soundscape. And also, to avoid producing sounds effects that when mixed together sound tonal (like there’s a tune to it).

For me my soundscape is made up of a variety – Self-produced sounds, sounds from online sources, and readily available sounds on GarageBand, the software I used for mixing the sounds to create the soundscapes some of the sounds I wanted to use were really hard to produce. Sounds that sound like a person’s drowning,  some muffled noises, hollow sounds. Ambient noise wise, it was pretty easy to record, just leave the recorder on and alone for probably 10 minutes, it’s good enough to get some good background noises.

Overall this was a challenging but fun project. It made me more aware and appreciative of the sounds around me. I think my senses have heightened now haha.

Sound Attribution

Those used from online source freesound.org

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Alas, the video for this project has finally come together. The journey to finalising my concept for this 1-min video was not easy at all… but I guess I had the easier hand when putting the video together as it was largely made up of past footages based on my concept (so I did minimal filming). All in all, I’ve learnt a lot from this project – How to write monologues and also developing a story from a tiny little small idea you have at the beginning.

It was a challenging but super fruitful project. 🙂

The Dreamer

password: srt

Alter Ego: Sandra Riley Tang

14607118_1650007945291233_171089300681654272_n


CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH | CHALLENGES

Identifying which character to portray was my first problem. I wasn’t sure which character to go ahead with. Even during the first in-class inspiration file exercise we did – writing a letter as a monologue, I was still undecided. I went ahead with Emma Watson, one of the characters I’ve narrowed down under the public figure category because of how I found an affinity with her because of her introverted personality beneath all the confidence she exudes when under the public eye.

Then came my second problem, the storyline. After consulting Lei, she advised me to go deeper into the character. If I was portraying Emma Watson though the quality I’m focusing on is the introvert side of her, I would have to give thought as to why she’s like this. Is it because of her family background? (the reasons behind it) but I was unable to get answers. Especially on the surface she comes of as a feminist with strong confidence but I’m the total opposite of that.

So I gave up portraying Emma Watson as my alter ego and moved on to the character as eventually portrayed in my final video, Sandra Riley Tang from local band The Sam Willows. Somehow it was much easier for me to come up with a storyline and act out the alter ego based on her. As mentioned in the earlier post, my affinity with her was her determination and drive to pursue the things she love and then the achievements you get out of being as such.

The concept:  An inspirational one of sorts, with an influencer tone for the monologue. From young to me now present day, the things I achieved through the same passion I had since young using footages from my archives of the interviews I’ve done, the events I partook in etc. It will end of with flashbacks of my achievements and then an open-ended kind of feel for the end.

The underlying message: The last sentence in the monologue “Dream big and never stop trying. Who knows what you can achieve”. Basically being determined/driven to pursue what you love and to have dreams, the qualities of my character.


STORYLINE

Moving on to storyline… Following the identified affinity I had with my character, I came up with my own storyline of my journey in pursuing what I love, the arts and the things I was able to achieve with that same one passion since young across the span of growing up.

FILM/ARTIST REFERENCES

For my particular concept, it was more of referencing empowering speeches, inspirational and motivational videos of sorts given and done by public figures/influencers so as to figure out the right tone to have when writing the monologue.

Count myself REALLY lucky. Sandra recently put up a 2-part motivational video on her Instagram account. It even had a monologue. Thus, bulk of my reference for this project came from these videos. Taking inspiration from her video,  I came up with my own monologue based on my story and had myself narrate it in an influencer tone to get the inspirational/motivational effect.

PART ONE: One of my major highlights of 2016 was seeing my own face on Nike.com. TBH I still can't believe it happened; it was seriously a dream come true. I was having a conversation with a friend 3 years ago, and the question was, if you could be the face of ANY brand in the world what would it be? Instead of a like Gucci, I said Nike. Hahaha. And these kinds of questions are always just hypothetical, you know? Like I want a pony as a pet kinda thing. Haha. 2016 was an amazing year with a lot of firsts and achievements. And there's only one thing left to do for 2017, just keep moving. Being a #nikewomen has pushed me to be #betterforit. To accomplish things I never thought I had the guts to do. If you're looking for a sign, that push you need to do something that scares you; here it is. Don't overthink it, just do it. 2017 is your year. ?? P.S Dreams really do come true. ?:@oszkid Special thanks to @najeeb_rahim, @zahidmukhlis, @sarahjusto, @kkbyong, @benjaminkheng, @evolvemma, @fitnessfirstsg and of course the @nike team for making this possible. ❤️ #NikeBeautifulxPowerful

A video posted by SANDRA RILEY TANG (@sandrarileytang) on

PART TWO: '…and every journey starts from nothing.' I've realised in my life that everything I have or have achieved started from just simply a thought. A little mental note sent out to the universe. And perhaps that's all you need to begin with, faith as small as a mustard seed. And then you start to water it with love, trimming off the negativity and just growing among others that love and support you. Even if you get crushed, don't lose hope, you have to keep growing. I find myself being an optimistic realist, excited by small things, because the truth is, nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. ?❤️ The journey with The Sam Willows has been incredible and almost unbelievable. Thank you to everyone that has supported us. We wouldn't be where we are today without you. This year is going to be incredibly exciting. NEW MUSIC coming soon. ?? Special thanks to @oszkid for shooting this, @najeeb_rahim and @zahidmukhlis, @benjaminkheng for his writing prowess, @hypebong for shooting the throwback shots, @thesamwillows for being family and the @nike team for making this happen in the first place. 🙂 I am filled with gratefulness. ❤️✨ #nikewomen #Nike #sandraxnike #parttwo

A video posted by SANDRA RILEY TANG (@sandrarileytang) on

As for video angles since I was using a lot of past footages, camerawork was everywhere and somehow I felt that my video comes off seemingly like a vlog… And because of that my references were mostly of YouTubers and how they vlog to get an idea of how I’d like the remaining shots that I’ll be filming to look like. 


STORYBOARD

To be honest, I don’t have the habit of doing up storyboards just because I’m unable to visualise my shots prior to shooting them. I think that I’m more of a get-the-feel-on-the-spot person. Meaning I’ll just try out a variety shots on the spot and go with the flow from there. Same thing happened for this project again. Only several storyboard frames went according to prior planning. The rest were spontaneous shooting or already existing camerawork by other videographers since I mainly used past footages of myself.

storyboard1 storyboard2

MONOLOGUE

Growing up,
I’ve always had a penchant for all things creative.

Took up art classes at 5,
the one subject in school I would always score the highest in.
It was my favourite

Flash forward to 17,
I went into media studies.
Dabbled in areas like broadcast and even got to interview celebrities through assignments.
Still, I enjoyed the creative modules most.

That was also when I found craftwork.
I was able to create something out of nothing as friends see it.
I love doing it as a pastime.

Showcased my works through an art mentorship programme
and won my very first design competition all in the same year at 20.

Those were things I never thought I could achieve with that very same passion I had since young. It was self-affirmation for me.
It made me feel like I was doing something… right.

Dream big and never stop trying.

Who knows what you can achieve.

 

VIDEO FOOTAGE & MUSIC CREDITS
Since my video was pretty heavy on using past footages/online footages of the events that had me in it…(Footages not credited were self-taken)

SHINE Festival Urban Arts Mentorship Programme:
https://www.facebook.com/shinefestival/videos/1026106494092598/
https://www.facebook.com/shinefestival/videos/1021363687900212/
https://youtu.be/NCc65mjjfpA?t=1m51s

*SCAPE The Invasion 2016 (Design Competition):
https://youtu.be/kVwmT33VkoE?t=59s

Music: in love with a ghost – we’ve never met but, can we have a coffee or something? 
https://youtu.be/0XZJ5mD6nSU