Sonic landscapes

Sonic Landscapes is a participatory project exploring the visualisation of sound through mark making. This work was created during my virtual artist-in-residence at BasementArtsProject in Leeds (2021).

I invited participants to make drawings of the sounds they could hear around them and an audio recording from the same location. I asked participants to tune into details in the sonic environment; textures, rhythms and qualities of the sounds, and to transcribe what they heard onto paper using a variety of marks.

I used the drawings to create a digital collage, connecting and layering the drawings at points where lines could join on to other lines, thereby creating a continuous flow around the whole image. I wanted the piece to resemble a map, of sorts, where the textures and details in the drawing could resemble geographical features.

I then used the collage as a score from which to create an audio piece using the audio recordings. This accompanying soundtrack takes the viewer on a journey around the map. Some of the audio clips are unedited, some are modified, and some details in the recordings have been used to create rhythms and melodies. It leaves space for ambiguity, inviting the viewer to wonder where they might be in this imaginary landscape.

Finally, to take this project further, I developed a live version of the sound piece with looping samples that I could trigger and effects that I could manipulate while on stage. (Scroll down to hear a recording)

Sonic Landscape audio-visual collage

Click, drag and zoom into the image to view the details.

Click the player below to hear the audio.

Kim[bal] · Sonic Landscapes Collage V2.3

Process

Due to Coronavirus related restrictions at the time, my residency at Basement Arts was done remotely. I created a virtual model of the basement, and used this as a site for people to visit and see the work in progress during the month I was “Resident”.

As people’s contributed drawings came through, I added them to the collage and ‘hung’ them on the walls of the virtual basement, and layered the audio files so that online visitors could walk around the rooms and experience the work as it was being created.

The virtual exhibition space is still active online and can be viewed here.

As you move through the exhibition, you can click on the images to hear the parts of the sound collage that relate to each of the drawings.