22nd April - 29th April
Partner Company: Bittersuite
Brief: Re-design the acoustic properties of a physical space
Group: Ula Rodakowska, Sebastian Ervi, Kate Chernysheva
Partner Company: Bittersuite
Brief: Re-design the acoustic properties of a physical space
Group: Ula Rodakowska, Sebastian Ervi, Kate Chernysheva
As a trio, we decided to meet in person at LCC to get started. Our first point of discussion was how each of us understands the brief and what on earth all of these words mean?
We were the only team of 3 people so we decided to change that when we found our Mascot and new team member - Teletubby Lala. It became our lucky charm in this project. Pictures taken by Kate.
CTL & DIGITAL SPACE
We decided to go to Digital Space & Creative Technology Lab to see what they would suggest in terms of how we can experiment with sounds, what software is available and how could we tackle this very tricky brief. They were very helpful and had a lot of suggestions for us: Logic Pro X, ProTools, AbleTunes, GarageBand, etc. They also told us about the possibility of borrowing a USB microphone from them. CTL later on reminded of the existence of Bare Conductive and the electric paint as well as Touch, Piezo, MP3 Trigger, Raspberry pie etc. We found this extremely useful to have a chat with them as it gave us an idea of the kinds of possibilities we have. Even though, they also suggested that we come back later when we have a better idea about what exactly we want to achieve.
Images from our visit to CTL and Digital Space. Taken by Kate.
BITTERSUITE EXPERIENCE
Second step was to familiarise ourselves with what Bittersuite does by going through their HELD experience, which could be done from home and we decided to do it together in the studio. It was a very interesting experience where different modes of music, narration and activities came together. Throughout the experience I let my mind go and wonder. Upon completing the experience we gathered together to share how we felt. We really enjoyed it and it made us feel very relaxed and Ula even fell asleep for a little. One thing that came into my mind was: what was the true purpose of it or who was it made for? This is something we wanted to ask Steph next time we meet.
Time-lapse of our experience with HELD. Taken and edited by Kate.
BRAINSTORM
Finally, after the experience, we decided to analyse the brief word by word, play with interpretations, what it means and what it could potentially become through finding synonyms and diving deeper into word meanings. We gathered together different readings, examples, etc. to give us a sense of what could be done and formed our thoughts into a mindmap which we presented to the class. One of the biggest inspirations for this projects became Yuri Suzuki's work with sound which was extremely interesting to see.
Unpacking the brief in detail. Pictures taken by Kate.
Some of the Yuri Suzuki's sound projects we found during our exploration. All images taken from online sources and contain a link to read more about these projects.
PRESENTATION
Our mindmaps we presented to the class. Developed collaboratively.
Presentation day. Picture taken by Ziyou Yin (Ines).
FEEDBACK
Overall, our peers were excited about our ideas and encouraged us to continue exploring. Some were very interested in the HELD experience and what it made us think/do and what were our feelings as a result. John pointed out a particularly interesting direction for him which was the acoustics of self and how we hear ourselves which was something I wondered about after doing HELD. So we began exploring further...
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BitterSuite. (2021). The HELD Experience | BitterSuite. [online] Available at: https://bittersuite.org.uk/held/ [Accessed 11 Jun. 2021].
Doriana Dal Palù, Claudia De Giorgi, Lerma, B. and Buiatti, E. (2018). Frontiers of Sound in Design. Cham Springer International Publishing.
Hanna, T. (2016). What is Somatics? [online] Somatic Systems Institute. Available at: https://somatics.org/library/htl-wis1 [Accessed 11 Jun. 2021].
Helmi Järviluoma, KytöM., Truax, B., Heikki Uimonen, Noora Vikman and R Murray Schafer (2009). Acoustic environments in change. Tampere: Tampereen Ammattikorkeakoulu.
Yurisuzuki.com. (2020). Yuri Suzuki | Face The Music. [online] Available at: https://yurisuzuki.com/design-studio/face-the-music [Accessed 11 Jun. 2021].
Yurisuzuki.com. (2020). Yuri Suzuki | Ishin-Den-Shin. [online] Available at: https://yurisuzuki.com/design-studio/ishin-den-shin [Accessed 11 Jun. 2021].