august 04th, 2003
So. I have been thinking about this assignment since I received it. Fill ten minutes with sound. Any sound I want? Yes, any sound you want. So then I start listening. And there are so many sounds. Right now I can hear my fingers typing on the keyboard. I can hear crickets chirping monotonously outside our mobile home. I can hear Sixteen Horsepower playing on the stereo in the next room. I can hear the fan blowing. I can hear my computer humming, I can hear a truck driving by, I can hear thunder rumbling low in the distance, I can hear my neighbour yelling drunkenly at her teenage daughter. How do I choose? How do I filter out the distractions to arrive at the essence of what it means to me to be living in this rural community in the middle of the prairie, distant from everything familiar to me?
I have a few ideas.
The sound should be droning, repetitious like the fence posts. The sound should be large like the dry, blue sky. The sound should be peppered with space. The sound should be lonely and disconnected, like living as an outsider in a small town. And yet somehow the sound must be beautiful, filled with memories.
I have a few ideas.
november 07th, 2003
this was a trippy experience Paula, but it sure gives me a good idea of the sounds of your neighbourhood. I couldn't live near one of those pumps. The noise would drive me nuts. Also we don't just listen to things very often, We are usually helped by visuals and its hard to listen and get the picture in my head of whats happening. Good practice though!