Soundwalk

I decided to participate in my Soundwalk one sunny day after class.  I ventured to Sheep's Meadow in Central Park and laid down on the grand lawn to sunbath and listen in on the sounds of the city.  At the start of the half-hour session, my ears tended to be attracted to the naturalistic sounds elicited by the call and response of bird calls, wind rustling leaves in the threes, and grass softening the impact of footsteps passing by.  When these sounds became overly familiar, I began to attune my senses towards the sounds of the people around me.  The meadow was as crowded as any other day with other sunbathers, parents and their children, and those engaging in physical activities.  Sometimes music would be wafting over from some other corner of the fenced in area or from the speakers on a cyclist as he rode quickly by.  On multiple occasions I heard a clatter that made me want to open my eyes, but I ignored my desire to rubberneck.  Instead, I attempted to decode the source of the sound.  I was able to figure out that someone had fallen over, maybe attempting to do a handstand.  I heard other loud thuds as if two people had collided.  It turns out there was someone doing yoga and other people playing a violent game of rugby.  Most of the sounds I experienced that day were ambient sounds that gave me an informed sense of space.  The more notable sounds were unique and bombastic, clearly implying to the listener that an important event occurred.  This exercise helped elucidate which sounds may be useful for audio editing; familiar and naturalistic sounds for the Keynotes, interesting and specific audio for the Sound Signals.

Define a Space

Dorian's Artist Statement

Binaries rule our lives.  Computer code, yes and no. White, black.  Life, death.  What we are told to do and what we want to do.  These categories have been useful tools for evolution and human social development in the past.  They have kept us ordered and safe.  Nevertheless, this planet and humanity as a whole are reaching a critical juncture in their shared history.  If there is not a radical rebellion in our processes of thought, structure of priorities, and respect for life future generations of humans are sure to face catastrophe.  I believe that the only way to cultivate these changes is by constantly questioning the binaries coded into us by human nature and social conditioning.  Why can’t both sides of a dichotomy exist at the same time as a dialectic?  What if we forgo both options and construct something more useful?  By consistently asking critical questions about yourself and your surroundings, new meaning may be found or stitched together from the remnants of old.

My meaning is constructed around a belief in the shared responsibility of man to care for one another.  A desire to make the world better combined with my interest in binaries has resulted in a passion for social justice.  I believe my best possible contribution to the world is to foster art that causes people to question and overthrow their preconceived notions of an unfamiliar subject like race, gender, or sexual orientation.  Complex television narratives are particularly adept at such a task.  Shows like The Wire or Master of None accurately portray experiences that many viewers may be ignorant of.  I wish to not only help creators inspire empathy in their audience, but to connect that meaning to critical self-reflection as well.