Sense of space with James Mellors

Below is the brief of my next project. I will be working with James on Sense of Space.

For this project you will be working in pairs.

The brief for your second pair's project is to create a 3-MINUTE, AUDIO, 'SENSE OF SPACE'

Your space may be an actual physical space or an imagined space. Consider how you might use audio to represent or recreate the physical dimensions or atmosphere of your chosen space.  You might perceive your given space as one of high activity, or of marked quietness. The space might have a predominantly human quality, or be devoid of the evidence of people and instead be marked by the presence of machines or nature. How do these differences manifest themselves?

Some words that might help you formulate your idea;

Movement                     Stillness                         Unnatural                       Natural 

Time of day                    Weather                        Mood                            Tone

Quiet                                 Crowd                          Crowd                          Solitude

Past/Present/Future         Otherness                      Speed                            Tension            

Relaxed                         Togetherness                 Leisure                          Work

No space is silent. Sound always exists.

In your room at night, it may be quiet, but not silent. 

A computer or TV left on stand-by will make a buzz or hum. You then may hear someone outside your door. Then some wind blows against your window, and you start to think about outside. A car passes which breaks up the quiet night, then as things fall quiet again, you can hear some paper, and leaves blowing around outside. A couple then walk by chattering excitedly after a night out, followed by the quiet buzz of the city at night which takes over until morning when you hear birdsong and the bustle of people starting to wake up - car engines and a cat meowing to let you know he needs some milk.

All these observations tell you that sound triggers journeys and pictures in your mind, and can give a fully rounded sense of space. A busy place may be full of traffic but what else? Each car has its own sound; there are motorbikes, bicycles, trams and buses in the traffic. Each surface they travel over creates a different sound. The city is packed with building sites, filling the 'soundscape' with the presence of machinery. People make noise all the time, whether they are chatting loudly, walking across different surfaces, or eating a sandwich and turning the next page in their book. There are quiet sanctuaries in the city like libraries, parks and gardens, as well as the obvious loud environments. The nature of a particular space will also change around the clock and the sound in that environment will rise and fall.