Freesound Forums

HELLO PEOPLE, HELLO WORLD!

My name is Paulina and i am currently studying fine arts at the HFBK University in Hamburg, Germany. I am writing this entry with the question if there are people who are up to participate in an art project that i am working on at the moment. The project contains an installation that is working with and on the medium of google earth.

During the last weeks i was wandering through this augmented reality, as many of us folks did since this medium is existing. After a while i asked myself how the experience of space through google earth will change if we are able to connect the images with sounds and thoughts.

The basic idea of the installation is to populate the already existing images with sounds and spoken thoughts of people living in certain places. I want to explore how the sound of environment is effecting the virtuality and how we can extend our idea of certain places through sound. The spectrum of sounds that i am searching for doesn't have any limitations. It can be the sound of people talking, a market, a playground, public spaces, music, nature, voices, noise. It can be a really simple smartphone record.

I am also interested in your thoughts on the term 'border'. What does this term mean to you?

I am happy to read and hear your thoughts.

Paulina

Hi Paulina.
I live near to the border between England and Scotland. I'm happy to help with your project if I can. Please feel free to message me more details through my freesound user page.
John

Hello Paulina,

Sounds like an interesting project, I'm keen, message me with more details?

As for 'border' I live in Australia so to me the border is the line between the states of Australia (SA / VIC border) but they mean nothing apart from a line on the map and a change of the clock.

Regards

Hi Paulina,

I've been thinking about "Border". To me it's a line, usually that doesn't exist in nature, that once is drawn creates an "us" and "them". So for example you have a piece of land with no line. There is no division. All the people are together in a common group. But if you draw a line, all the people on your side become "us", and on the other side the people become "them". It's a man made division. If you cross the line and stay there the people on your side then become "us" and the side you left becomes "them".

And it's not just land lines are drawn on. A line between rich and poor, short and tall, male and female can be drawn. You can draw a line anywhere and create a division, and each division creates an "us" and a "them".

It's probably the human way of dealing with things. It's easier if everything is catagorised and compartmentalised. But each line creates a division which can result in "us and them", "right and wrong", "good and bad" judgements being applied as well.

Just my thoughts. Possibly not correct.

John

PapercutterJohn wrote:
...

It's probably the human way of dealing with things. It's easier if everything is catagorised and compartmentalised. But each line creates a division which can result in "us and them", r"ight and wrong", g"ood and bad" judgements being applied as well.

Just my thoughts. Possibly not correct.

John

di•chot•o•my (dī-kŏtˈə-mē)►

n.
Division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions: "the dichotomy of the one and the many”

If not 'the' human way, one of the (simplistic) ways we deal things with. Fortunately we can also see 'much' and 'little'

D

hey out there,

"It's a man made division."
"If not 'the' human way, one of the (simplistic) ways we deal things with. Fortunately we can also see 'much' and 'little'"

First of all yes, i guess that we humans use the word border to describe the organisation of ourselves in several aspects of life.
Borders are effecting our every day life and i am happy to read different thoughts about this topic.

To me articulated borders in forms of rights, conventions, human rights or individual definitions of personal space and the human conscience are somehow fundamental and nessecary if they are protecting the human right of freedom.
Articulated borders can also be the language itself, we either understand specific signs of a language, or we don't. Because of the reason that language is the medium we need to get connected to our environment deeply, i think that language is forming our idea of individual borders strongly. Individual borders are also defined along the will, needs, prejudements, unawareness and fear. These lines are somehow virtual, spoken and individually variable. They open a vast field of interpretation possibilities.

The real world physical lines are one one side created naturally by the oceans, rivers, mountains and so on. National and cultural economic identity borders are an appearance of natural borders in combination with the history of control, power and the interpretation of social identities by institutions and humans. The appearance of these borders is in a constant change.

So how do we percieve IRL borders today? It depends on our socialisation, where we come from. It depends on our education and selfeducation. Our passport and social status is deciding if we are able to move and cross borders IRL.
How about the perception of borders in the layer of an augmented reality like google earth? It depends on where we are as well. It depends on the access to information. It depends on how we use the information.
By observing the earth from above in this safe space of unlimited voyeuroism we may get an idea of the momentary outer appareance of places on earth. But this layer is also characterized by liminality, distortions, image manipulation and different resolutions.
All these images can be a threat to our reputed knowledge, because it is just a layer of visual information. Too often the outer appareance of the world, humans and objects are our fundament for identification. Beneath this visual information lies the vivid moment that contains much more than just an image.

I think that these new layers of reality are affording us an opportunity to identify ourselves as "in this world", more than any other cartographic work. In real life existing borders don't have a meaning in this layer. I am wondering how this can effect our thoughts on this topic over a longer period of time.

So i am wondering now if this relativley new layer has the potential to make us humans percieve the world as one more easily?
And how can we use the existing information to get conncted to parts of the world we could never reach physically? What are your thoughts?

The installation i am working on at the moment contains a videowork with images of google earth and google street view on one [Earth, zoom in in in in in, out, darkness, sound, image, in in, ouuuut, other place... ] Its is kind of a blurred journey, that the viewer is seeing on a mirroring surface. There is beamer, a wall and on the other side of the room there is a reflecting surface, which is reflecting a kind of disturbed image.
On the other hand i am working with sounds of certain places that are shown, satellite sounds, samples and spoken thoughts questioning the term of "border". I use ableton to work on this.

What i need now is spoken thoughts of people. Is anyone up to send me some?
Thank you guys, i am really grateful.

Can you just clarify something for me please. If for example I was at Hadrian's wall, first of all, would you want a recording of the natural sound there? Secondly, would you want a recorded voice talking about how Hadrian's wall is a border, or would you want thoughts about the place. e.g. "It's cold here. How on earth did the Roman's put up with it?". The latter is still a thought about borders because it's a thought about living on one.

Also, when would you need to receive it all by? Not sure I can help as I work long hours, but will if I can.

John