Places

1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
The reason I picked this article first of all was because of its theme of being about places. This caught my curiosity, and I wanted to know more. As I read it I am glad I chose this article. This article talks a lot about different places and how people are tied to these places. It makes sense to me the most, because I have seen how people are connected to different places and at what degree they are. Some people like me, are really attached to places and they mean a lot to them, while others on the other hand are not so attached and can’t even call a place “their home” because they don’t feel connected to anything.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
This article, like briefly summarized earlier talks about different places and how closely or distantly people are to places. First the article starts out on talking about different relationships of sense of place. The different relationships include Biological, Spiritual, Ideological, Narrative, Commodities, and Dependent. These stages start from being really close from biological close meaning being born in the place and develop a closeness overtime to the end of the spectrum being independent meaning maintaining a relationship is the aspect of choice result of having either, no choice or severe limitations on choice. Then to go deeper into the “Sense of Place” These are called the different community attachment. They are called Rootedness that are broken into two different categories, cohesive and divided. The other ones are place alienation, relativity, and placeness. Again like stated in the “Sense of Place” the degree of Rootedness also decreases as well. Rootedness in the Cohesive and divided degree means that they are attachments but cohesive attachment is stronger then divided rootedness. By the end of spectrum, the degree called placeness is the least type of attachment. By this type of attachment by definition it states that there is a lack of place-base identification and lack of emotional attachment to any particular places. I believe that these different points of view and different types of attachments are important because they are so relatable in today’s society. I tend to see people who are close to their place and enjoy going back there and then I see people who really can’t call any place they visit a home anymore.
3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?
I have to say that I really agree with this point of view upon the places and her definitions of closeness and farness of a place. If I were to relate this to a media artist, I would say that I would want to do work around a place that I feel comfortable around or more familiar with. I don’t mind doing work in different areas because I have done it in the past, but it always seems to have more meaning and symbolism when there is familiarity with a place that I would be doing work on.

The Amazing Sound Walk

Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
I felt I was able to yes. Some of the sounds were better than others but for the most part I found enough sounds that were able to be documented.
* Was it possible to move without making a sound? Sometimes it was, but with the wind being there it made it harder. For my own personal problem, my papers in my binder kept flipping.
* What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them? When I plugged my ears all the sounds were muffled. I couldn’t make out the sounds, but when I had my ears unplugged the sounds came out alright. I could tell what was going on.
* In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them. Radio from a car,
Scooter tires,
Car door open and shutting,
Water fountain drops hitting the water,
People footsteps,
Hummed sound from traffic,
Girls talking and giggling,
Skateboard wheels hitting sidewalk as a person jumps with it,
People talking on their cell phone,
Constant bird humming,
Paper from my binding flipping over,
Guy in corner laughing towards his friend,
Cell phone ringtone going off,
Jingles from backpack due to keys dangling from the backpack,
Door hinge opening,
Blender from union blending smoothie,
Keys jingling as girl walks by with them,
Women asking for her food order,
Piano being played with jazz music,
Heavy footsteps on stairway,
Book slamming on table in union
Computer printing in the buss area,
Vending machine humming,
Clicking from door being opened hard,
Student blowing his nose
Crunching from someone struggling opening a chip bag,
Drinking fountain humming,
Motor cycle putting,
Fork lift clinging and rattling
Plane motor from the sky
Humming from the city
Car starting, clicking from car starter,
Still buss motor muffling,
Sandal skidding from girl,
Students yelling from playing frizz bee,
Leaves crunching in grass,
Crunching from the bark,
Car horn honking,
Student coughing
Students yelling “YEA!” for excitement
High heals from girls walking.

* Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place? Some of the sounds I was able to differentiate like car sounds, planes, and people talking. Some of them I wasn’t. It all depended on how close the sound was.
* Human sounds? Mechanical sounds? Natural sounds?
* Were you able to detect subtleties in the everpresent drone? Small things like leaves being crunched in the lawn, and branches breaking in the woods.
* Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away? Some of the extreme close sounds included a motor cycles “putt putt putt sound, and that car door shutting. Some of these far away sounds included the machines from the buildings, or kids screaming on campus.
* What kinds of wind effects were you able to detect (for example, the leaves of trees don't make sounds until they are activated by the wind)? One of the biggest wind effects that I noticed was when we were sitting down, and listening to the wind blowing through the open areas of where the buildings are placed. I could hear the howling effect from the wind.
* Were you able to intervene in the urban landscape and create your own sounds by knocking on a resonant piece of metal, activating wind chimes, etc.? Not really, the only effect that I gave was walking loudly up a few of the stairways, and my binder that had paper blowing in it constantly. Other than that I noticed some people here and there giving off sounds but mostly people were observing.
* Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape? Yeah I do, I really notice sounds that one doesn’t normally pay attention to. I really enjoyed doing this activity.
* How do you think your sound walk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all? I know from experience and this one included that when filming on set, everything has to be exactly quiet. I learned that even footsteps are picked up, especially from a device called a boom. Now I have learned that there are a lot of other sounds that can be picked up as well.