Creative workshop task 2: Alienated senses
Working in pairs if possible name yourselves “Eyes” and “Ears”. Ears is equipped with sound recording equipment (your phone will be more than adequate) and blindfolded. Eyes will lead Ears on a guided journey through a range of different environments. Ears will dictate the pace of the journey and say when they want to stop and make dedicated “sound-mark” recordings.
If you have to work alone then perhaps consider choosing an environment in which you can remain motionless with your eyes closed for several minutes. As you do so your sense of hearing will improve and you will begin to focus in on sounds that previously you’d of missed. Now search out these sounds with your recorder and build up a sound-scape of them.
For the photography aspect investigate the same environment as a photographer, responding solely to what you see.
At the end of the journey Eyes repeats the route (wearing ear-defenders/plugs) responding to the visual stimuli.
You should end up with a landscape story and a soundscape story. This content should then be uploaded for everyone to share and mash-up. In next week’s session we’ll be combining soundscapes with image-based journeys and layering them with other people’s to make new artefacts. You must license this content as CC BY-SA or CC-BY to enable us to do all of this.
Take time to load up your content with as much information as possible such as the time, location, weather, your mood etc , all of this is information that can be dispensed with if not needed but has the potential to add value if included.
– JW
Upload your images to the FLICKR Phonar group and tag them #phonar
Upload your audio to the Soundcloud Phonar group and tag with #phonar
Once you have uploaded your audio and images, place a link and brief description in the comments section below
You can also share in twitter via the hashtag #phonar and on the forum, but please ensure you have placed your links in the comments below.
Addendum
If you don’t know another photographer or #phonar student to go out with, it would be interesting to go out with a ‘non-photographer’, a friend, parent or child, get them to be the ‘eyes’ and see how they view the world differently to you (like a fingerprint, no two people will view their surroundings in the same way).
Also consider going out at night, when there is less noise pollution and what sound there is, travels further. Everything will seem strange at first, but soon, your ears will adjust and even in your back yard you will hear new sounds.
– Matt
Food for thought: Jim Goldberg
A body of work from a perspective that can inspire you for this task: Jim Goldberg creates powerful images on issues on sensitive issues like the journeys carried out by asylum seekers to cross borders. His approach involves a strong collaboration with people met on journeys.
In fact Goldberg’s images came to mind after yesterday’s disaster on Lampedusa island (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24380247).
However we may also ask ourselves if it is appropriate to display and sell this kind of work within commercial galleries?
Uploaded everything and everywhere!
link to blog
http://josephkes.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/alienated-sensory-mashup/
link to flickr set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephkes/sets/72157636445719184/
link to soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/j_mod/alienated-senses-task-phonar
[…] #Phonar Creative Workshop 2: Working in pairs if possible name yourselves “Eyes” and “Ears”. Ears is equipped with sound recording equipment (your phone will be more than adequate) and blindfolded. Eyes will lead Ears on a guided journey through a range of different environments. Ears will dictate the pace of the journey and say when they want to stop and make dedicated “sound-mark” recordings. […]
Alienated Senses sound by Peter Wilson is at:
http://snd.sc/1g7groQ
Sequential images are at:
http://2peterwilson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/alienated-senses-mash-up_11.html
and Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/103999958@N03/sets/72157636442512635/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/surenmakkar/sets/72157636315765073/ link to the photos. Having issues uploading sound to soundcloud for 3 days now. Will try to get it done by tonight.
https://soundcloud.com/suren-makkar/phonar-alienated-sensory Finally its uploaded. It was such an adventure doing this. My friend kept walking towards the road. Editing a half an hour journey to this 12 minute sound scape was so tough. Looking forward to comments and the next exercise! Cheers!
Here is a link to my blog where you can find my group task. http://alicemartinsmith.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/alienated-senses-phonar-task/
Hey here is my task up on my blog 🙂
http://melissacruzsantos.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/phonar-task-1-alienated-sensory-mash-up/
Hello Melissa. I think your interpretation of the task is very effective and I liked the way that you presented it yesterday and how you paused on certain pictures for a while. It gave me time to imagine and explore the images and try and work out which sounds were coming from there. I imagined a car accelerating through the lights for example.
Cracking stuff
Hello everyone.
I was the ears of this journey. Ioana joined and took me places. It was frightening!
The MP3 file contains all the sounds recorded throughout the journey. Each sound can be distinguished by a sudden change in the height of the frequency wave. Have fun! File licensed as appropriate…I hope.
https://soundcloud.com/ctphotography/sensory_mashup_ct-ib-mp3
Ioana still needs to supply me the link to the images to this task…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ioanabultoc/
These are Ioana’s images. You should also be able to find them in the #phonar photostream.
It was Sunday 6, 2013, at four in the afternoon I was at 79 Stoke Row, in Coventry. It was my boyfriends’ house. We then walked from Stoke Row to Walsgrave Road, arriving at Subway at four twenty. We were hungry:
http://sophmoet.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/creative-workshop-2-alienated-sensory-mashup/
https://soundcloud.com/sophie-moet
Hey sophie,
Great audio dispite some Wind issues. Liking the smaller snippets – easier to follow with the images the point of interests & the more bizzard noises that you don’t hear / distorted audio like from the subway or the drilling.
With the mashup, perhaps keep the audio more non-descript. Allow the audience to try their ears to pick up the different audio, and see if they cna recognise the audio; like you were blind.
Here they are again as original comments seem to have disappeared: images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/104543269@N03/sets/72157636289090884/
and audio: https://soundcloud.com/photo-rethink/alienated-sensory1_street_cork
Would have been awesome to see the journey coupled with the audio as it visually cuts off around the one minute mark when the ambience changes; however that might be because of the absense, there’s a longing / curiosity to the visual. However I think the audio’s worked really well for what you have taken. I’m really impressed that you’ve managed to encapsulate so many different sounds, the people at the stalls / streets / shops popping in and out with unidentifiable words from amongst the busy.
With such chaotic audio I’m really liking the clarity you’ve managed to pick up, the flow’s moved on really well from location to location without any rest or deminishing effects.
Hi Damien
For some reason the sound page doesn’t work for me but that is probably just my shoddy internet. From looking at the photos I imagine there would be a constant sound of people communicating at the market, possibly sounds of tills opening and closing etc. I like the way you have taken the photos, it makes me feel as if I am walking around the market myself. I especially like the photo of the 2 pac t-shirts next to the meat as it reminds me of every market that I have ever been to where there are often a random array of things trying to be sold.
Alex
Bit late to the game, nevertheless, here they are!
Sounds:
https://soundcloud.com/juli-n-p-ter/phonar13-alienatedsenses-jp-2
https://soundcloud.com/juli-n-p-ter/phonar13-alienatedsenses-jp-1
https://soundcloud.com/juli-n-p-ter/phonar13-alienatedsenses-jp
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianpeterphoto/10157142913/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianpeterphoto/10157038856/
I went on a garden center parking in podington (uk)As I was by myself I stayed in the car eyes closed then I went toward the sounds to have a better recording. I then went to take photos ears shut with my mobile in a very instinctive way. Things that do not appear are the smells I have found with my ears shut…
https://soundcloud.com/cecilea-brun/sensory-mashup-phonar13
http://www.flickr.com/photos/104647253@N04/sets/72157636322731545/
Theo and I’s journey around Hillfields, Coventry. Around what I thought was an indoor market to the hissing of geese at the Swanswell Park.
http://carolinehascapturedit.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/phonar-task-2-alienated-sensory-mash-up/
https://soundcloud.com/caroline-walker-9/phonar13-sensory-task-1
My senses were very alienated during this task, although I had to cheat a little as I wasn’t prepared to walk around Cork city blindfolded, nor did I have anyone to complete the task with, here’s the image set on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/104543269@N03/sets/72157636289090884/
and here’s the soundcloud audio file, mostly street ambiance and some sounds from inside Cork’s Old English Market: https://soundcloud.com/d-visual/alienated-sensory1_street_cork
Not entirely pleased with the task. Just wasn’t quite feeling it.
changed profile settings to match my phonar website, so the new audio file link is : https://soundcloud.com/photo-rethink/alienated-sensory1_street_cork
We went on a late night walk around Battersea – through the council estates, down to the river Thames and back up the highstreet. Enjoy!
Audio: https://soundcloud.com/ben-parfitt-5/phonar13-task-1-sensory-mashup
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bparf/sets/72157636208100343/
Jonathan’s suggested from my work to geo-tag the images on Flickr, so we can follow the route and pase you took – see the gaps between the points of interest.
Liking the audio soundbites you’ve compiled, different noises that pop in and out. Interesting trying to peice them them with your images as they appear to be quite absent of people and traffic; Very clever contrast with the night-time images.
Sound cloud is great as it allows sound to be referenced as a frequency wave-like timeline. That said, there’s some amazing clarity and “alienation” in those sounds. You wouldn’t think it was all from night…
It’s very clear that the images and sound are explicitly split from each other. Thanks for supplying these awesome materials.
Thanks for your comments guys. I put the two together as a video here: http://vimeo.com/m/76795930
How do you license sound on Creative Commons?
If you follow this link you can choose whatever media (“format of your work”) it is and select a license accordingly – http://creativecommons.org/choose/
j
Hi,
Submission for Task 1 – Alienated Sensory Mashup.
Audio by Alex Edwards
Photography by Katie Merrifield
http://am-edwards.com/blog/phonar13-creative-workshop-2-alienated-sensory-mashup/
I don’t understand how to take sound only videos or how to upload them. Would it be okay if I took pictures by closing my eyes/wearing a blindfold, and taking the picture oriented only by the sound? And then repeat with earplugs?
Hi Devon,
What sort of equipment do you have access to, if you haven’t got any fashion of audio-recording, you might be able to take a video and extract the video from it.
As for adapting the task to what you have access to, you’ll have to wait for Jonathan to see this to help you out. We talked about transmedia in before the task was set, so if there is a way for you to take audio, even if it’s extrapolated from a video, then I think that may be prefered than only images, even if directed by noises. You may struggle to portray what directed were if you were to take images ‘blind’
Hey Devon – theses tasks are licensed to be adapted and remixed 🙂 go for it – you can always add a note to say how you approached the task and what problems you overcame – that will really help me (to rethink next year’s tasks) and the next person who comes along in your situation.
Thanks – j
This task reminds me of a personal project I did as an exploration last year. Check out the blog entry I just made. Comments welcome! This week’s task is going to be fun Cheers! http://surenmakkar.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/the-listen-project/
[…] is my soundscape for Phonar Creative workshop task 2: Alienated senses. I played the “ears” and Oscar played […]
[…] phonar.covmedia.co.uk/?p=1011 […]
Hi All,
Here is my submission for Creative Workshop 2: Alienated Senses.
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eccola1976/sets/72157627980469938/
Soundscapes:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/phonar
The series of photos were done in one night that included Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trips, dinner at California Sushi, and a visit to the Occupy Oakland camp (part of a movement in America that is protesting the disenfranchisement of society, resulting from the deregulation of banks and financial institutions).
The sounds of the BART are ‘stuck’ on my cell phone, as I cannot convert them to an mp3 file. I will be re-recording and uploading these at a later time.
The project was a collaborative effort with my partner, Josh, who was responsible for recording a majority of the sounds.
Regards,
Jen Woo
I’m a bit late to the game. I made this task with the help of my friend Fran, who took care of the audio part:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntfxs/tags/task2/
http://soundcloud.com/fransimo/sets/barceloneta-phonar-task-2/
[…] is my soundscape for Phonar Creative workshop task 2: Alienated senses. I played the “ears” and Oscar played […]
Since I have to work alone, I started to record first the audio. Moving to a comfortable place then closing my eyes and record. After I gather the audio, I wander again and took some photos.
http://soundcloud.com/you/tracks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/macarandang/sets/72157627994244020/with/6287975496/
As a result of experimentation, I combine the photos and audio to make an audio slide and this is the result:
http://vimeo.com/31236876
Info:
Bonifacio High Street, Philippines around 10pm, Oct 26, 2011. Stores are almost closed and nearly people from coffee shops, bars and restaurants are present.
task 2 // alienated senses = complete
images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eventful/sets/72157627985097154/
audio:
http://soundcloud.com/simon-green-1/sets/creative-workshop-task-2-1/
i needed to walk to the post office in the centre of ferney-voltaire, france from my hotel on the edge of town. for october… it was an unusually sunny and crisp afternoon. the walk took about 30 minutes (+ pauses along the way to take snaps)
to hit the deadline… i had to complete the task alone, as i am away from home and very busy working in geneva, switzerland.
Well it’s been quite weird to walk blindfolded to get my little daughter from school, on a rainy day in Barcelona, with the camera, the umbrella, her sports bag and so on! I had some problems with the mic (it just recorded acute sounds at first), but it was funny anyway. After fetching her we went our way back to get her brother from his English lesson, and I shot the pictures then.
I tried to make a video out of the images and the sound recording, but misteriously the images appear after a few seconds (anyone guess the reason why?). I uploaded it to Vimeo http://vimeo.com/31100741 .
Images:
http://flic.kr/p/ayZRnV
Sound recording:
http://soundcloud.com/annilina/jana-sortida-escola
When mixed together it sounds so familiar to me, it brings me back to my day to day routine, seeing the images I see everyday and listening to her explaining loudly what she’s done at school (she’s only 3 and you’ll see she has an acute voice, lol)
Fixed the video problem!
[…] audio and images from last weeks ‘Alienated Senses’ task should by now have been uploaded to the #phonar Soundcloud group (for audio) and #phonar Flickr […]
Hi gang,
Here are my links for Task 2:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68328022@N05/sets/72157627977710156/
http://soundcloud.com/dm88ph
As I wrote in my comments on SoundCloud, on October 22nd, around quarter to six, I conscripted my wife into blindfolding me and walking me around the grounds of our residential complex. I was happy to be doing something out of the ordinary, though I was a little nervous I’d be walking into a tree or some such. Also, I was worried my wife might not be enjoying herself, but she said she had a good time.
After the sound recordings were made, she brought me back to where we had been and we both took photos. She’s not much interested in photography, but she got some nice shots!
Glad to hear any anything on the results – Thanks.
David,
Glad it was a success and you both enjoyed it, really liked your soundscape and look forward to seeing it used for mkII of this task!
Best
Matt
Here is my result:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68544821@N04/sets/72157627975251620/
and
http://soundcloud.com/vitarazgale/sets
Just completed the task. Quite a thought provoking task and one which could lead into something much bigger.
http://deanobrien.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/351mc-phonar-workshop-2-alienated-senses/
Thanks for the heads up, SoundCloud is new to me so I’m a bit slow on the uptake. On the plus side though, I can now easily embed audio on my website.
Here is my Sound clips and pictures that were taken during the sound recording.
http://soundcloud.com/andy-gregor
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andy3eg/
Great stuff Andy, can you make sure you tag with phonar and add to the phonar group? Cheers
Matt
I’ve just finished uploading my work for this task.
Images http://www.flickr.com/photos/rich-image/sets/72157627953134614/
Sounds http://snd.sc/otor8g
[…] Creative Workshop 2: Alienated Sensory Mashup […]
Hopefully I’ve uploaded Task 2 correctly, my son David (14) was the photographer and I was the ears. We did 4 shoots and sound and pictures are named to match.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andy3eg/
http://soundcloud.com/andy-gregor/sets
Fantastic assignment!
Cheers from Brazil!