I have been doing a lot of walking around, through and amongst London - as is my travelling ritual. My sense of direction is somewhat questionable and if possible - even worse when my body clock is realigning itself to the position of the sun. Walking puts myself as direct master of my movements and allows me to figure out just where the hell I am in relation to where I plan to be, in the time as required to do so. It's also another good jetlag tip (how to avoid it, deal with it and encourage it to disappear). I will walk or ride a bike before I catch public transport - as a type of physical and mental meditation. Taking steps seems to fall into simpatico with the sorting of my thoughts and the turning cogs of my body's own time measuring mechanism.
and then there is the element of discovering the small details that would be otherwise missed.....
The lean of buildings, the awkward corners and 'dead' spaces that exist as offcuts of building templates. They hang off the edges of prescribed wall fronts and lurk in the backgrounds of a buildings facade.
The more they are neglected, the stronger their presence becomes.
I am already regretting the fact that I did not bring more sophisticated microphones to record sounds with. Once again, I am immersed in a city and once again, I am inspired to listen and understand how I believe it ticks - to find, gather and select my desired sounds. A small and modest collection of urban soundscapes will be my alternate project while I am in London and I am enjoying the thrill of the hunt now it has begun. I don't know why I find it so rewarding to decipher a city - haven't quite pinned that one down yet - but I do know that ultimately - when I begin to plan my recordings of a certain place/time - that is exactly how I feel I am working - by peeling back the layers of a communities outer shell and taking the time to collect what is beneath in sonic representation.
An astoundingly effective snapshop of memory and meaning behind the cities motions.
The more they are neglected, the stronger their presence becomes.
I am already regretting the fact that I did not bring more sophisticated microphones to record sounds with. Once again, I am immersed in a city and once again, I am inspired to listen and understand how I believe it ticks - to find, gather and select my desired sounds. A small and modest collection of urban soundscapes will be my alternate project while I am in London and I am enjoying the thrill of the hunt now it has begun. I don't know why I find it so rewarding to decipher a city - haven't quite pinned that one down yet - but I do know that ultimately - when I begin to plan my recordings of a certain place/time - that is exactly how I feel I am working - by peeling back the layers of a communities outer shell and taking the time to collect what is beneath in sonic representation.
An astoundingly effective snapshop of memory and meaning behind the cities motions.
