Project #2 Experimental Mapping/Audio Tour

From the Audio Tour Hack website: http://audiotourhack.com/

Objective:
Conceptualize, design and disseminate an audio artwork to be experienced in a specific location or locations by individual participants using mp3 players and headphones.  The project objective is to creatively utilize sound, voice, music and/or sound effects to create an audio based experience of physical space that somehow transforms the experience of said space through sound and navigation of our local environment.  You are required to use the sound recording studio and equipment available through the @One Center at the Knowledge Center.  You can reserve the sound recording studio through this link: http://knowledgecenter.unr.edu/

The intention of this project is to create an opportunity for you to incorporate digital sound recording and mixing technologies for creative audio production to developing sound based experiences to occur privately (through one's headphones) in public space.  Furthermore, these productions are to be specifically designed to create a unique, location based, site specific, performative experience for your audience.  Think of the world of vision, touch and physical activity as something that is to be augmented by a complete replacement of natural sound with your audio creations.

Examples:
Several links to works in this vein are are included below.  This project is truly wide open to experimentation and a vast array of possibilities.  I'd encourage you to think about much of what we have been looking at and listening to over the semester so far.  Through your creative production and going out into the world and actually "listening" for perhaps the first time in your lives, you have experienced and learned to have a greater appreciation of sound in the everyday and in art production. Now you have an opportunity before you to entirely replace the auditory experience of space for your listeners.  I am not quite sure where to start with actual examples but would ask you to think about some of the following possibilities.

Words - rewrite/invent history, tell us a story, share actual history, share personal histories, interview people about particular spaces/memories, read poetry, free associate, cut-ups (look it up!). Be site specific? Learn about a place and then reinvent it or tell us a story about those locations.

Directions - guide your listener/viewer through space using words, sounds, prompts, become a puppet master, create instructions that are open to interpretation (these could be group actions as per your instructions/prompts), scavenger hunt, have people take pictures, call you on the cell phone...etc., etc.,  These can be one track played through or for better flexibility, design into your experience, instructions for play, pause, "now walk to the tree in front of you, then hit play", tones, verbal cues, etc.

Mapping Local Spaces - explore!  Find locations that are everyday or extraordinary or make the everyday extraordinary through your audio tour, look around, the best spaces for this may not always be your first ideas, indoors or out or a combination, parking garages, streets, walking areas, lawns, parks, restrooms - this is really very open - choose carefully and with reason.

Content: humor, pathos, love, memory, fantasy, sci-fi, politics, god/religion, art, life, money, sex, you know...   Have fun!

http://www.abrahamingle.com/neighborhood-diaries/
http://audiotourhack.com/
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/slate_audio_tours/2005/07/introducing_slateaudio_tours.html
http://www.neighborhoodpublicradio.org/TRACKS/
http://www.betseybiggs.org/project/soundwalkcaramoor/
http://www.christinakubisch.de/en/works/electrical_walks
http://www.thehighline.org/activities/the-gaits-a-high-line-soundwalk
http://www.elastic-city.org/artists
http://www.sabinegruffat.com/BIKEBOX_ARCHIVE/BIKEBOX_about.html
http://artscool.cfa.cmu.edu/~johnson/nutshell/PED/illusnarrative/narrative.html
http://temporarytraveloffice.net/stories/main.html
http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/walks/index.html
http://researchswinger.org/smellymaps/
http://community.long-time-no-see.org/
https://streetart.withgoogle.com/en/audio-tours
http://soundsky.org/
http://elmcip.net/creative-work/la-flood-project
http://www.kimstringfellow.com/portfolio_page/invisible-5/
http://34n118w.net/34N/
http://yolandeharris.net/?nk_work=displaced-sound-walks
http://gregoryandwatts.blogspot.com.au/
http://01sj.org/2010/artworks/machine-to-see-with/
http://www.impossiblegeographies.net/net_derive/

Due Dates/Calendar:
Tuesday, September 13th - Assign Project/Sound Booth and Digital Recorder Demo
Thursday, September 15th - Turn in formal project concepts including location map (NO HAND DRAWN CRAP, DO THIS ON THE COMPUTER PLEASE!)
Tuesday, September 20th - Lab day mandatory.
Thursday, September 22st - Lab day mandatory.
Tuesday, September 27th - group #1 crit locations TBA (on or near campus).
Thursday, September 29th - group #2 crit locations TBA (off campus downtown/midtown).