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| [[Anita!/thesisdraftSteveNotes]]
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF0808;"> </span>
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| '''[working title]'''
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| Anita Burato Colamedici
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| April 2025
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| Thesis submitted to:
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| Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy,
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| in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the final examination for the degree of:
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| Master of Arts in Fine Art & Design: Experimental Publishing (XPub).
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| Adviser: Steve Rushton
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| Second Reader: [ **]
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| Word count: approx
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| ==<span><tt>Introduction</tt></span>==
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| Sound connects. Sound creates friction. Sound frees from control. Sound passes through. Sound is not tangible but exists so powerfully in space. It identifies places so strongly but is not usually thought of, or used to describe one, other than ‘noisy’ or ‘silent’. When thinking about what you hear when you are in public space, it is quite rare for a sound to be noticed if it fits into the expected range of common, 'boring' and mundane.
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| In this essay, I want to provide the reader with methods, exercises, experiments and listening techniques, and issue an invitation to listen, truly listen, and not just hear. In 'Deep Listening' Pauline Oliveros highlights the difference between listening and hearing. Listening requires attention, whereas hearing is simply the perception of sound waves received by the human ear. Oliveros highlights how she observed musicians were not listening, but hearing their own performances, creating a "disconnection from the environment". I notice that this is also the case when in public space. Whether you might be sitting, walking or cycling, all the sound around you is something that just falls into the background, to which not much attention is payed.
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| We (me and you reading this) will explore the urban landscape with no visual aid, noticing new imaginary sonic paths and composing new ones ourselves.
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| What I will be listening to during the course of writing this document will be general background noise. The exercises to perform contained in this paper are not site-specific and are intended to listen '''anywhere'''. Not tied to a place. Not tied to materiality. They are meant to be very open to interpretation. This is important '''because''' of how different the sound of a space can be. The aim of what I am researching and making is to listen, and through this listening to discover more about a place.
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| ==<span><tt>do you listen or do you hear?</tt></span>==
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| I walk around a square close to my house, on a Sunday, following the lines created by how the cobblestone has been placed in the pavement. As I do this, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Time to listen.
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| I hear:
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| A constant buzz coming from the traffic.
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| The voice of a child, breaking through the air.
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| Construction noises, coming from the pavement being repaired.
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| Some metal falling on the ground, making a very distinct sound. Maybe keys?
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| Wind gusts, making the last autumn leaves fall on the ground in a nearby park.
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| Some seagulls crying, maybe looking for scraps, leftover from yesterdays market.
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| The loud motor of a car driving quite close behind me, I wonder where it is going.
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| It is quiet for where I am, I can almost hear how cold the air around me is.
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| As I listen, I start to notice how my imagination runs, questioning the identity of these sounds, speculating about the context in which they exist, where they come from and where they will go. Personifying sounds allows you to listen more deeply, I think. Imagining a story around common sounds makes it apparent that each time you truly listen, and not just hear, the city soundscape is diverse, like listening to the same instrument playing different songs. Of course they are correlated, almost all the same notes are used, but there are many variations in the rhythm, pitch and volume. At first, these changes might seem small, but the more you listen, the more you start to be able to identify how they make the practice of listening to the city soundscape so exciting.
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| So often sound is ignored outside. People move with headphones in their ears, listening to music, covering the noise of the city. Even when people hear it, the soundscape of the city falls in the background with no one really paying attention to it, unless something out of the ordinary starts happening. Actively listening all the time can be overwhelming, but when it becomes a standard practice to not pay attention to sound, so much is lost. The sound of the city is so rich of information, is nuanced, variable and filled with life, which at the end of the day is what makes a city one.
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Listening''' is important to notice change. </span>
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Listening''' is important to defining a space. </span>
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Listening''' is important understanding urban condition. </span>
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| In [Listening to the City] I will look into listening to the city soundscape using three separate approaches.
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| In this chapter, I will look at listening in public space from my personal experience and try to stress why I think it is such a crucial practice in understanding an urban area. I will compare environments in which I have listened, and try to outline how their soundscape highlights the social and cultural differences between them.
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| In the second chapter ’Time for Listening’, I will provide you with a manual of sorts, containing visual annotations, case studies (meaning fieldwork) and indications to perform guided walks focusing on listening.
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| In the the final chapter ‘Caught Sounds’, I will present the recorded soundscapes, and show ways in which it is possible to play with them outside of their natural environment, documenting part of the process of developing [grad project title, with a footnote explaining it is grad project for context]
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| My experience with sound in public space is quite different in the Netherlands compared to in my home country, Italy. Noise in the Netherlands is increasingly restricted to designated spaces and places that still remain ’porous<span style="color:#FF3BE8;"><sup>1</sup></span>’(René Boer, Smooth City). It has a clearly defined area in which to exist, and if it tries to leave from what has been established as its place, it is to be removed. I think back to this particular moment in the first year of living here, when a neighbour complained about me and my roommate making too much noise while talking on our balcony. They did this in a written letter, describing our voices "shrill and booming". I remember being shocked at how the ‘noise’ of our conversations was rejected in such a strong way.
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| This experience in particular made me realise how sound is perceived differently. Generally, I have noticed much more space being kept for manufactured silence in cities.
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| I propose silence in the city can be divided into two main categories: manufactured (or prescribed) silence and natural silence.
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| Natural silence is what you hear when you walk out on the street at two in the morning, when you are in a park at night or what you hear when inhabitants of the city are asleep. Silence that is there because no one else is.
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| Prescribed silence instead, is the type of silence that occurs as a result of a rule or regulation imposed on a specific space. This rule can be direct, like:
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''NO loud noises after 8 PM!'''</span>
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;"> '''NO speaking in this train cart!'''</span>
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| or indirect, but with a similar effect on the environment like:
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''NO skating!'''</span>
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;"> '''NO loitering!'''</span>
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;"> '''NO music!'''</span>
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;"> '''NO taking on the phone!'''</span>
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| The rules just mentioned are an example of attempts to control sound in public space by using prohibitions, not only around noise itself, but also around the general public environment. This can in turn remove and blur the identity of a place. Of course, we all deserve to be able to rest in peace, but there could be a space for this naturally occurring noise<span style="color:#FF3BE8;"><sup>2</sup></span> to exist.
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| This creates a clear disconnect between the urban reality and the people inhabiting it. This is because it can change and manipulate the identity of a space in time. Listening to a less scripted environment helps understanding its identity. For example, if I enter a space where I hear a lot of chatter, I know it is a space where you can probably spend some time and hang out. If I hear skateboard wheels, I can assume there are certain architectural features good for tricks, like ramps, ledges etc. But when loitering and skating are not allowed, this hypothetical space is no longer one for gathering, and the people involved in these activities become unwelcome.
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| When thinking about silence and noise, the question of what is the difference between noise and sound also arises. According to Wikipedia, from a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium.
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| Noise is sound, but undesired and not intentional. So if we consider this, city soundscapes would by definition be ‘noise’.
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| However, I would like to suggest a change in your perception of the word noise, from undesired, and not intentional, to surprising and serendipitous. With this slight change in attitude towards the word, the noise of the city suddenly becomes a soundscape, something you want to listen to.
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| This is why I want to listen, and play with city noise.
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| Listening to general sounds, in a non site-specific way, has a very different value than listening using a Situationist approach<sup>3</sup>.
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| The two approaches have a separate intention behind them. The specific places are not relevant in this project because my aim is to highlight purpose and value in listening '''everywhere''', and not the specific sound of a place.
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| The worth in general listening is that it is an open invitation. Listening '''is''' political, listening to sounds in different spaces '''does''' alter them, but what I want to do is facilitate the very action of listening itself.
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| ==<span><tt>chapter 2 </tt></span>==
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| This chapter will contain methods, exercises and experiments made through the development of the text, to help in listening carefully. It will 'activate' the research explored in the first chapter by showing how I will implement some of the examples into my own listening practice, as well as illustrate and propose exercises (that I will also carry out) for the reader to perform.
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| In ‘Walking from Scores’ Elena Biserna writes “Walking is also a tool for re-establishing an embodied relationship with the world, a way of inscribing one’s presence in space, triggering new experiences and perceptions of reality”(page 27) and in my opinion this is true to listening as a method of reading the city as well.
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| Of course then listening is used as a tool, but the method in which you listen can shape what you hear deeply.
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| For example, I have been practicing a form of embodied listening, attempting to be fully aware, in different situations.
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| I am in the mountains, walking in the snow, very high up. I can see the valley below me. And the mountains hugging around it create a sound funnel. I hear:
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| church bells at 12:00,
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| the constant buzz of traffic,
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| a helicopter,
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| my footsteps on the icy ground;
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| {{Audio|mp3=https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mw-mediadesign/images/4/45/Field_recording_mountain.mp3|style=width:100%}}
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| This makes me realise that even though in my memory this was a quiet place, removed from the city and civilisation, it was not true at all. Sound still pervaded and reminded me of the city. What I hear belongs to spaces that are so separated (urban and wild) but are actually clearly connected through sound.
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| I am on an island, next to the Maas, under a big bridge. I am enveloped by concrete, water, soil and mud, and I hear:
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| constant buzz of traffic, really loud,
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| waves crushing on the river bank,
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| birds chirping,
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| metallic sounds,
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| water droplets;
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| {{Audio|mp3=https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mw-mediadesign/images/6/6a/Waves_hitting_metal.mp3|style=width:100%}}
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| I notice how loud and overwhelming the sound of cars and traffic is from far away, I walk closer and closer to it, until I am under the bridge, and it is almost the only thing I can hear. This is a space for people, but the cars take over. Then I try to put the loudest sound in the background, and I hear more layers, finding a shy droplet, not so far away, falling from the bridge into a little puddle.
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| I am in a park in my neighbourhood, with a big playground, trees and sculptures
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| and I hear:
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| children voices,
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| metallic sounds,
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| swings creeking,
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| background traffic noise;
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| {{Audio|mp3=https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mw-mediadesign/images/e/e8/Parco.mp3|style=width:100%}}
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| I follow with my eyes each sound I heard, trying to make them clearer and more defined by looking at them. I move in the space trying to notice the small changes, trying to find something new by chasing the sounds.
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| I am waiting for a train to go home, it is night, the train is late, the station is not busy at all, and I hear:
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| construction noises,
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| trains leaving and coming,
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| breaks,
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| the wind;
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| {{Audio|mp3=https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mw-mediadesign/images/6/6d/Train_station.mp3|style=width:100%}}
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| No people are around. I wonder how the sound of the station would change if I was not the only one there. I know how a full station sounds, so I think of that.
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| All these observations are deeply personal and subjective. If you (reader) would have been in the same situation, you probably would have noticed something I did not. Focused on another sound. Had other thoughts or memories connected to it. Perceived the same space in a completely different way.
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| I invite you to think about this while performing the exercises and methods I will illustrate in this chapter.
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Spiral listening'''</span>
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| Find a round or oval shaped space
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| Start walking around the perimeter of it
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| After one round is completed, start to listen
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| After every step, stop
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| List every sound you hear
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| As you follow a spiral shape
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| Until you reach the center of the space
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| Stop.
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| What did you hear? How did the position in this space change the sounds you came into contact with?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Hop hop'''</span>
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| Hop on at least two different streets
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| Listen to the sound your feet make as they touch the ground
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| How does the sound change between these two streets?
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| Even if the pavement is the same, does the shape of the street make it different?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Quietly'''</span>
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| Go to a space in the city you know is quiet
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| Listen to how much noise you make
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| Your heartbeat
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| Your breathing
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| Your footsteps
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| Your pants as you move
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| What other sounds do you add to the city soundscape by just walking in it?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Follow'''</span>
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| Quickly identify a continuing sound in the space where you are
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| How does it change if you look at its source?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Water'''</span>
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| Go to a water source close to you
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| Listen to it carefully
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| How its sound changes when you touch it, or throw a stone in it
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| If a boat passes, how the waves hit the banks
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| Now imagine you were fully submerged in that water
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| Try to think of how the other noises around you might sound
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''High up'''</span>
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| Go to the tallest spot you can think of.
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| Notice the difference in sound from above
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| and below
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| How do the sounds in the same space, at different heights change?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''The market'''</span>
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| Go to your city market
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| Try to identify and separate the different layers of sound
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| List them
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| Do any of them remind you of a specific moment in time?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Concert'''</span>
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| Choose a space in the city
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| Identify at least two objects (which will be your instruments)
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| Do a little performance for yourself
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| Did these objects make any sounds before you made them make one?
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| How are these different?
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Overhear'''</span>
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| Sit on a bench of a street where you know a lot of people pass
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| Listen to as many conversations as you can in a sneaky way
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;">'''Everything!'''</span>
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| Sit in one space, any space
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| Try to listen to everything you can hear
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| Write a list of it
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| What did you miss?
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| Can you find any more sounds?
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| ==<span><tt>Caught Sounds</tt></span>==
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| Observations on the sounds encountered during the research period (stemming from the 'Time for listening' chapter). I would like to include samples of sounds in the text, both in an auditory and written capacity. I would also like to issue an invitation for the reader to write down their observations inside of the body of this chapter as well. A reflection on the small differences and changes noticed, depending on the listening session, for example, does the exercise being performed affect what i hear? I am also planning to use this chapter to connect with the graduation project, writing about the process of selecting sounds and showing ways to play with them.
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| === Footnotes ===
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;"><sup>1</sup></span> In his book ‘Smooth City’, René Boer describes ‘porosity’ as kind of an opposite to the smooth city. A smooth city, is a city where urban space is stripped of its city-like qualities, and urban life is compressed into a seamless experience, leaving no space incompatible with its clearly defined norms, a city in constant pursue of perfection. A porous space, is one where a ‘blur of strict boundaries in the urban fabric, a mixed, complex and intense urban environment’ [page 162, 163]
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| <span style="color:#FF3BE8;"><sup>2</sup></span> By naturally occurring noise, I mean noise and sound that is created as a result of people existing in a space, [like chatter, footsteps, the sound of a bike wheel turning] as well as sound coming from the environment itself, like birds chirping, wind etc.
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| ==<span><tt>References</tt></span>==
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Deep Listening A Composer's Sound Practice</span>, Pauline Oliveros
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Walking, Listening and Soundmaking</span>, Elena Biserna
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Walking from scores</span>, Elena Biserna
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">LISTEN</span>, Max Neuhaus
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Inaudible Cities</span>, Jacek Smolicki
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Listening: A Research Method in Art & Design</span>, edited by Alice Twemlow
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Basta Now: women, trans & non-binary in experimental music</span>, Fanny Chiarello
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Smooth City</span>, Renè Boer
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">The rest is noise</span>, Alex Ross
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| <span style="text-shadow: 0 0 10px #FF3BE8;">Scratch Music</span>, Cornelius Cardew
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