WALKING, SOUND, SPACE — Maya Bormann Portfolio

WALKING, SOUND, SPACE

*3D ANIMATION
*INSTALLATION
*BOOK

MY THESIS IS A COLLECTION OF WORK BASED ON THE TOPICS OF WALKING, SOUND, AND SPACE IN THE CONTEXT OF URBAN LANDSCAPES. I AM INTERESTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS OF KNOWING AND ASCRIBING MEANING TO THE WORLD AROUND US, PARTICULARLY THE WAYS IN WHICH WE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SPACE AND PLACE. THE WORK SHIFTS BETWEEN AN IMMERSIVE AND ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE, A VISUAL EXPRESSION OF HOW I HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AROUND ME. MY INTERESTS IN PHENOMENOLOGY, URBANITY, AND AMBIENT SOUND HAVE GUIDED MY EXPLORATIONS ALONG THE WAY.

THIS PUBLICATION IS A RESEARCH PAPER I WROTE ON THE TOPIC OF WALKING. MY WRITING EXPLORES WALKING FROM A PHENOMENOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, CONSIDERING WALKING AS A WAY OF KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING OUR SURROUNDINGS. MY RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN SPACE AND PLACE WHILE QUESTIONING THE WAYS THAT WE ASCRIBE MEANING TO THE WORLD AROUND US. THIS PAPER DELVES INTO THE NUANCES OF EXPERIENCING PLACE FROM A FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW WHILE BEING COMPLETELY PRESENT IN OUR BODIES AND MIND. THE DESIGN OF THIS PUBLICATION WAS INSPIRED BY THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF THE CITY SCAPE - SIGNAGE, STRETCHED TYPE, AND GRAFFITI THAT GUIDES OUR MOVEMENTS THROUGH THE WORLD. THE DESIGN IS PRINTED ON BROADSHEET NEWSPRINT, REMINISCENT OF A PAPER YOU WOULD SEE ON THE STREET.

<SOUND>

CYMATIC SPACE IS AN ANIMATED SOUND WALK. BY COLLECTING 3D SCANS AND SOUND RECORDINGS OF MY DAILY WALK TO WORK, I HAVE CONSTRUCTED AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE OF URBAN LIFE NARRATED BY EMERGENT SOUNDS THAT ARISE ALONG THE WAY. I USED SCANNING AND FIELD RECORDINGS AS A WAY OF MAPPING THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. BY CONVERTING THE SCANS INTO POINT CLOUDS, I WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE SPACE AUDIO REACTIVE TO THE FREQUENCIES OF THE SOUND, REMINISCENT OF A CHALDNI PLATE (CYMATIC TOOL USED TO VISUALIZE SOUND VIBRATIONS). THE ANIMATION ALTERNATES BETWEEN A FIRST PERSON AND REMOVED, ARCHITECTURAL POINT OF VIEW WITH CONTINUOUS SOUND IN THE BACKGROUND. THIS SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE MIMICS THE WAY WE EXPERIENCE THE WORLD AROUND US - BEING FULLY PRESENT VS THE HUMAN TENDENCY TO MAP OUR LOCATION IN OUR MINDS. THE CONCEPT OF "PLACE" TRANSLATES TO THE FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW WHEREAS "SPACE" IS VISUALIZED THROUGH THE REMOVED PERSPECTIVE. THIS SHIFT IS NARRATED BY THE EMERGING SOUNDSCAPES WHERE SOUND BECOMES A WAY OF GROUNDING OURSELVES IN THE PRESENT MOMENT AND SPACE. THIS PROCESS ALLOWED ME TO DISCOVER THE NUANCES OF A SPACE THAT I TRAVEL THROUGH EVERY DAY, PICKING UP ON THE DETAILS AND EPHEMERAL SOUNDS THAT I OVERLOOK IN MY DAILY WALK. I WANTED TO VISUALIZE THE ETHEREAL QUALITY OF SOUND AND THE WAYS IN WHICH SOUND SPARKS IMAGINATIVE THINKING OF SPACES IN OUR MINDS.

<SPACE>

I BROUGHT MY WORK INTO A PHYSICAL SPACE FOR MY FINAL OUTCOME. USING PROJECTION, I WANTED TO CREATE AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE FOR PEOPLE TO VIEW MY ANIMATION WHILE CONSIDERING THE GALLERY AS ANOTHER EXTENSION OF PHYSICAL SPACE. THE MAIN SCREEN PLAYED MY ANIMATION OF THE FIRST PERSON POV, WALKING THROUGH THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. THE WALL TO THE RIGHT WAS A SIDE VIEW OF A CITY BLOCK, ALLOWING VIEWERS TO PEOPLE WATCH, REMOVED FROM THE SCENE. PROJECTION AS A MEDIUM ADDED ADDITIONAL LAYERS OF INTERACTIVITY AND MEANING - SHADOWS CAST BY THE LIGHT ADDED PEOPLE'S SILHOUETTES INTO THE URBAN LANDSCAPE AS THEY VIEWED THE ANIMATION. THE GALLERY SPACE TRANSFORMED INTO PLACE AS PEOPLE INTERACTED WITH AND ASSIGNED THEIR OWN PERSONAL MEANING TO THE WORK.