Assign 1 - Sound and Space

Sound and Space

Jetlag introduces an unconstraint lifestyle that departs from the routine of daily living and the rhythm of the city. My irregular sleeping patterns make those initial moments of awakening extremely disorientating. When my eyes are still struggling to open, I lie still in my bed and listen…

I listen to the rumbling engines of the on-going traffic.

I listen to people chatting waking on the sidewalks.

I listen to the couple arguing at the corner.

I listen to the siren that slowly disintegrates at a distance.

I listen to the howling of the forceful wind.

I listen to the window banging on the window sill.

Then, I know that I am in my room… in Brooklyn. These are the sounds of New York.

In the absence of the morning sounds…

I listen to the once annoying, now familiar, subtle ticking sounds generated by the pest repellent device that I had purchased out of my fear of the more annoying.
I listen to the humming of my little portable heater.

Then, I know that I am in my room… in Brooklyn. These are also the sound of New York.

In those few moments that I am in limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness, those sounds help me to locate myself in the bed…in the room…in the city…in the world.

The world speaks to me. The world interacts with me even though I am still in my bed. If I listen carefully, it will also tell me what time it is, and perhaps much more.

Sound and Identity

In Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, Georges Perec poses the question “When, in a given bedroom, you change the position of the bed, can you say you are changing the rooms, or else what?” I do not think so.

What gives a room its characteristics is beyond its furnishings. Its identity encompasses much more than the visual cues. Therefore, I have decided to document my apartment in Brooklyn through sound. I tape recorded the sound in my apartment.

Two drawings are my intrepretation of the recording.