Sonic walks: A listening and walking methodology to reconfigure spatial narratives of place and belonging
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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Author
Date
2024
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Taiteen ja median maisteriohjelma
Language
en
Pages
93
Series
Abstract
People can feel like they belong and do not belong in a particular place. Various factors and individual experiences can influence the feeling of belonging to a particular place. People experience places differently based on their position within specific social interactions, class structures, political ideals, and moral values. Place and belonging, as dynamic processes, are continually (re)shaped by rearrangements of tension and negotiation between diverse local and global power relations, adding complexity to the experiences. They are not only shaped by sensory inputs, such as hearing familiar traffic sounds in the background or smelling the ocean, but also by the relational and emotional dynamics with other bodies and other places. The relational and embodied experiences of place and thus belonging, in turn, are particular to specific environments and a person’s situatedness –a person’s position within specific social interactions, class structures, political ideals, and moral values in a specific situation and place. These embodied and situated experiences allow the body to be a unique source of knowledge. The situated body generates knowledge from encounters and situations as it interacts with intangible forces, such as social norms, and tangible forces, such as being in a crowd or extreme weather environments. These encounters produce forms of knowledge that interconnect the collective aspects of political, social, cultural, and environmental experiences with the personal. These forms of knowledge are inherently subjective and contribute to a nuanced and unique understanding of the dynamics of belonging. Drawing from personal experiences as a foreigner in an unfamiliar place, in this thesis, I explore the dynamics of belonging and not belonging, as well as various experiences of place. The thesis is structured around three artistic experiments that examine how political, cultural, social, and environmental factors shape divergent perceptions of place. Rooted in walk and sound studies, the methodological framework uses concrete approaches such as sound and listening walks facilitated by technology to engage with the environment. Through these artistic experiments, the methods of research progressively developed, transitioning from broad observations to nuanced reflections on specific elements and areas that evoke feelings of belonging. I found that sound, listening, and walking-based research methods offer a unique approach to examining social and cultural environments. By using sound and walk-based research methods, researchers from diverse fields can have a better understanding of issues of belonging and the cultural and social aspects that are present in everyday life but are not immediately evident. Through my thesis, I hope to encourage others to interact with their surroundings in different ways and to explore their relationship with(in) places and the sociocultural structures that shape them.Description
Supervisor
Niinimäki, MattiThesis advisor
Mensah, DannKeywords
sonic walks, situated knowledge, embodied knowledge, place, belonging, experiences of place, listening, walking
Other note
Media files notes:
Experiment 1 - living archival: memory of the space(screenrecording)
Experiment 2 - Making-here: Embodied Memory (full video)
Experiment 3 - Making- Home: a place that lingers and yet dissolves (full soundscape)
Description:
living archival: memory of the space
Helsinki, 2022
walking and mapping practices, interactive soundmap, real-time geolocation tracking
The first iteration of the sound map proposed audio samples placed in the physical space via geolocation. The experiment mapped Helsinki through my movement, rhythms, and orientations, which were constricted to specific paths and areas. This awareness led to the making of an immersive sound map to represent the extension of the city from my experience, which demonstrated a reduced sense of belonging. The screen recording showcases the audio map as accessed from an off-site location on a computer browser.
Making-here: Embodied Memory
2022-2023
performance walk, 2022, Helsinki
Video documentation of the performance by Henry Lämsä, post-production by Francesca Bogani Amadori
00:06:31
soundscape, 2022-2023, Helsinki and Lima
Field recordings and modulated audio samples.
The video work delves into how embodied rhythms emerge regardless of one's placement, replicating the different conventions of past experiences that have affected and shaped one's ways. The work features a (dis)situated walking performance in a landfill. This performance reveals how gestures, rhythms, and patterns embedded in the body can permeate the location and transform the sense of place. Sound is used as a medium to trace and present the intensities and intentions of the walk by incorporating field recordings from Helsinki and Lima.
Making- Home: a place that lingers and yet dissolves
Helsinki,2023
soundscape:
field recording, image-generated audio samples, modulated audio samples.
00:13:10
The soundscape depicts an imagined sonic place that attunes to the emotional and experiential processes of inhabiting (t)here, an immaterial place that exists in the relation and simultaneous experiences of here and there. This fictional place presents the familiar and uncomfortable from sonic representations that evoke a longing for home.
Media creators:
Henry Lamsa videographer for Experiment 2
