/After being in the studio on the 22nd, I felt that our ideas were starting to really come together. With the music for one photo being completed, a discussion on the use of certain news reports for a shock effect and a large chunk of Foley being completed, I felt that the session went very smoothly and made good use of studio time.
/After sitting down with an individual to go through all 28 photos and see their opinion and views on them, I realised that all of the answers revolved around how the photos show addiction to social media. Even though none of the photos hint at the idea of social media, simply technology addiction. The accounts below are only a couple of examples from the entire collection. A further, more detailed document of the interview will be uploaded shortly.
For instance, the photo below of the woman lying on the lap of a man, the individual had this to say: “The photo was taken after a long day. They most likely find it easier to relax via social media rather than having to talk. Talking through emotions is too tiring after a day of work. They’ve forgotten how to connect with each other.”
For the graveyard photo, the individual said that the person is “showing off via social media by saying where you are in a bid to get online approval.”
I think it’s interesting that the social media aspect was taken on the photos as it gives me a lot to think about in terms of what sounds to use within the soundtrack/soundscape. For instance, I think that if this view of social media is what is seen in these photos, then I should contemplate whether to use the recognisable sounds of social media or to discuss a different route with the group.
/After looking through a selection of videos on YouTube regarding the Removed photos, it’s interesting to see how literal many of the interpretations are. All of the video titles and content discuss the addiction to technology, which is absolutely right and showcases the most common literal interpretation.
However while browsing these videos, it made me realise that a large majority of viewers are looking at the surface of the photos rather than digging deeper. This then made me think that maybe the way to utilise the sounds as music is not to create a shock effect, but simple extend the basic idea of technology addiction, but on a much deeper level.
/After looking for something inspirational that might help me gain a better understanding of the deeper meaning of ‘Removed’, I came across the site everydaylistening.com.
The site posts about sound art installations, who they were made by and a little snippet of the meaning behind the work. Although, I’m unsure if the writing of the meaning of the art is intentional, it’s still inspirational none the less.
For example, the ‘Time and Tide Bell’: “Time and Tide Bell” is a permanent installation, existing of 12 bells around the U.K. in several very different locations, rung by the sea at high tide. The rise of the water at high tide moves the clapper to strike the bell. Played by the movement of the waves, the bell creates a varying, gentle musical pattern.
My personal interpretation of this is that for music to be created, then the waves must will it to do so. Only nature can be involved in the creation of this music. And, as the site quotes: As the effect of global warming increases, the periods of bell strikes will become more and more frequent, and as the bell becomes submerged in the rising water the pitch will vary.
The fact that a change in nature will also change the strikes of the bells is perhaps a message that is trying to be conveyed through this installation.
My interpretation of many of the pictures of removed is that not only have we become obsessed with consuming media through technology. The technology is starting to become an extension of us and our lives. A deeper interpretation perhaps, is that this subject of technology addiction is taboo and the pictures are exploring this taboo. The pictures went viral because for once, it made us think rather than just consuming media through our phones. No one wants to talk about our obsession because everyone is obsessed.
I believe that I should be approaching the Removed sound installation in a similar way to the Time and Tide Bell. While the Time and Tide Bell was actually a musical piece as a whole, it still pushed a message forward through music. I think this is an important point to remember when creating.
/I’m currently In the process of going through what could be classed as the more experimental work by Brian Eno to see if I can extract any ideas to be used in the ‘Removed’ project.
So far, after listening to ‘Seeded’ and ‘Glitch’ I’ve found glitch to be the most useful in terms of extract ideas for the project. Glitch seems to be the most experimental track, utilising the background noise of birds.
I plan to research this style of ambient/experimental music further to see what inspiration I can find. I also plan to utilise the texts that are available to me to learn about music crossing the boundary of real life sound and how that can be applied to a sound installation.