Ryan

Ryan was an extremely trippy look into the downfall of a Canadian animator, named Ryan. The film was a short created by another animator. Though not completely my style, I was able to see firsthand how expressive animation can be. The narrative style was pretty unique, too- the story was told in sections dealing with the people in Ryan's life. The cartoon versions of people showed scars through creative means- like bars of color or missing bones. Some of the depictions were kind of cringe-worthy to me, but ultimately effective.

When the Levees Broke

Though I saw this film in its entirety a few months ago, I still find significance in its message. When the Levees Broke chronicles Hurricane Katrina- the way in which a natural disaster affected people, the way that water plays into that, and the way that people reacted to the problem. I learned a lot from this film. I knew that Hurricane Katrina happened, but that's about it. I didn't know that the city had expected the disaster to happen, and had just improperly prepared for it. It's so strange to think of water as something that can completely engulf a city, when at the same time, we are dealing with a small body of water that has been changed to be "efficient." In that way, the city of New Orleans and the city of Syracuse are similar in that they both changed something about their nearby water. Syracuse channelized, while New Orleans created levees.

POTLUCK

The potluck was one of the first times [the first?] where I got to kind of see what other people thought of our project, after witnessing a sample. I got to watch people and their reactions to listening to the interviews that Fereshteh conducted. For the most part, people seemed pretty into it, which is very reassuring. It's nice to know that you have a captive audience. Beyond that, the food was very tasty, I wish we had been able to get there earlier. The throwing of the sprouts into the creek was really nice- I like being able to participate in things that I'm not really familiar with. I took it pretty seriously, too, taking the time to reflect and hopefully it will do some good.

Script

I. Introduction
A. Sound of rushing water possibly layered over “Colors of the Wind”

II. Route and Colors
A. Begin at the Redhouse
i. Red: clip of rosebush
ii. Talk about past community
iii. “The area you see now was formed after decades of development”
B. Turn off tape recorder and walk across the street to small park area
i. Brown: look at the contrast between the Brown original buildings, the Warehouse, the large red wall, the pink newer office buildings
1. note the awkwardness of the layout, especially with the sculptures
ii. White: Syracuse Train graveyard in the distance. “Much like the Vanderbilt train station used to thrive and be a hub of commerce in the community, the Creek used to be clean.”
iii. White: Mushroom sound clip
C. Stay to the left and have first sight of the Creek
i. Black: Fence barrier. Use quotation from Creek walk engineer
1. contrast between the new industrial barrier and the chain link fence
ii. Blue: Beer bottle label on the side of the creek
1. pollution - possibly mention treatment facility
2. keep walking on the street, talk about Beer and bar industry in Armory Square
D. Interview one of the local shops and businesses briefly along the street
i. Pink (?) : signs on chocolate store
1. briefly talk to business owner for personal anecdote
E. Reach the end of street and cross the road to bench area
i. Green: “Notice the familiar, ubiquitous green of Starbucks.” Mention the development of the area, trying to remain nostalgic for the past. The buildings are a fake brick exterior that attempt to look like the true old buildings of Armory Square.
ii. Mention the shot clock in front of them
iii. Look at old pictures of the area
iv. Beige (?): Look at the Most buildling. Notice the medieval architecture of the building
1. The Most is a center for science but has no mention of the Creek and the citizens remain woefully ignorant about it
a. Cue Mitchell sound clip
F. Turn around and walk back towards Redhouse
i. Play clip of Piano Lady - mention of Syracuse community
ii. Silver: Walk past Sushi restaurant and look into mirror. “Check yourself out. Is it windy out?”
G. Walk back and take final look at the creek. Look down at the Graffiti and on the steady erosion of the ground beneath it. How quickly the rapid water of the channelized stream is flooding the landscape.
i. Magenta: the graffiti on the wall. Mention the neglect of the creek.
ii. Possibly interview a Graffiti artist
iii. Look at picture of the creek in the unchannelized portion and how the creek could look.
H. Walk back to Redhouse. Cue music.

March 31 Homework

Tentative Walk

Word Association:

dirty, trash, muddy, channel, modernization, juxtaposition, blue, decaying, potential, ignorance, fence, boundary, erosion, commerce, graffiti, bars, apathy, ugly, hidden, brown, rapid, altered, historic, path, beauty, restricted, dangerous, natural, unnatural, movement

Inspirational Interview:
-The interview with Theresa, whose house was constantly vandalized, was a great inspiration for our project. Peggy was inspired to think about the colors of the creek from the rosebush that Theresa recalled. We hope to play off of the colors that exist or are absent from the immediate area surrounding the creek into a very thoughtful sound walk.

Background and Contextual Information about Subject:

-We want to focus on the colors of the creek. We want to give the creek color. The creek is currently literally rather gross and dingy. The colorful periphery give the creek depth. By focusing on the colors that occur near but not in, the creek, we hope to highlight what it could be, and what it maybe once was.

Intended Narrative

-We want to lead the listener on a journey through the different colors that are literally occuring close to the creek. We will figure out where these colors are and base our journey off of that. We want to have a connecting story or other audio clip to relate to the colors on the journey. The colors will give the stories more context, and lend to the organization of the walk.

Goals & Objectives?

-We want to focus on the potential of the creek. It's so close to change [what with the city's creekwalk plan] yet still such an untapped resource. We want to touch upon the clear ignorance of the creek- [after our vox pop project, Kalee and myself recorded many people who worked in or visited Armory Square who couldn't direct us to the creek, even though it runs right through it, which is rather disturbing.] By focusing on potential and ignorance, we hope to highlight that much is possible with the creek, that color can occur.

How will we measure success?

-If we have people actually taking part in it, I'd find it to be successful. If the idea behind it compels people to participate, then I'd be pleased. If people actually get something out of it, then I'd really consider it a huge success. I think the ultimate signifier of success would be if our project got people to think about the creek and possibly affect legislation regarding the creek. If we had a sort of institutional influence, then I'd be ecstatic.

Target Audience

-People who are ignorant yet interested in the subject. I doubt that someone who doesn't care would want to pick up our sound walk, so we won't worry about them. Any interested parties would be ideal. We'd also like to appeal to artistically-inclined people, as our project will not likely be only documentary.

How do you want the audience to use your project?

We want them to use it as inspiration and information. We want them to learn about the issue at hand, and also be influenced to take some sort of action in response- whether it be telling a friend what they learned or writing a letter to someone who could make some sort of governmental change happen.

Who do you need to interview?

Once we decide the colors and figure out where they're located, we'll need to talk to people who have stories that might correspond to them. People who operate in the space, whether they work in a shop or are delivering beer or are just walking around, probably have something to contribute to our walk.

Ambient Sounds?

We'll want to include the sounds of the creek, maybe other water, the sounds of armory square [vehicles, beer, coffee, cd filing, individual shops and restaurants, etc.]

Inspirations?

Andrea Hammer's documentary style is a huge influence. Her literal website map and sound association, I believe, has very similar goals to our project. I was also really influenced by Janet Cardiff's exploration of time and space travel within sound, and the artistic experimentation within her pieces. 

An Atlas

I thought that the exhibit was really cool. Being able to see the different ways that people take a concept and map it is inspiring- I didn't even think of how creative a map could possibly be. I liked the more obviously factual ones, like the map that explained oil consumption, or the one that mapped surveillance in NYC. One of my favorites, however, was the map about the water in Los Angeles. I liked it because it wasn't necessarily the most clear to read and understand, but it gave you a very personal and emotional understanding of the way that the artist understands the water in Los Angeles. It wasn't the most cohesive and readily understandable map in the exhibit, but I found it very creative and thought-provoking. I also really just liked the way that the artist drew her map.

Anyplace Brooklyn Questions

1. What sorts of answers are you seeking when you ask people what they're looking for? Or what they'd like to see?

2. What do you hope for people to get out of this?

3. How did you decide on the sounds [marching bands, people chatting]?

4. How long did it take you to collect these sounds?

5. What sort of response have you gotten?

6. How did you come up with the idea to include tangible items in your walk? Is this 

Andrea Hammer Articles Response

Audible Evidence

Summarize:

This article deals with the listening of places and the meanings they conjure. Hammer wonders how places speak, and looks to examples from artists for answers. Richard Lerman recorded places with his Fence-Border work, which Hammer describes as "haunting." Hammer notices a relationship between the senses- even when hearing is the only one being stimulated. Lerman alludes to his sites as having eyes. Hammer defines soundscape to be "the total acoustic environment in which one is immersed, a 'total field of sound wherever we are.'" Hammer discusses disembodiment and context when listening to soundscapes and the like.

Connection?

I think that with our vox pop it may be hard to draw a connection. We tried to include the sounds of the sites we were at by layering them underneath the voices. I think that since the voices change so rapidly, it's difficult to get a sense of the environment. However, I think that listening to seemingly disembodied voices without context also proves to be a worthwhile experience.

New York Sound Lines

Professor Hammer discusses the way she plans to go about capturing the soundscape of Endicott, N.Y. Endicott was once a booming industrial town, but is currently a Superfund site with great pollution and economic depression. Hammer discusses how she plans to not only record the stories of the town's citizens, but also the changing ambient sounds that exist in Endicott.

Connection?

I think this is more along the lines of what I want to pursue with the overall project. Like I stated above, we tried to include some of the ambient sounds of Armory Square while we were making our vox pop, but it was not our focus. I now see the importance and will strive for ambience in future projects.

Questions for Professor Hammer:

1. Article 1- In what ways have audio documentary and its methods changed throughout the years? Do you think that audio documentary is something that has helped people learn about the past? Are there specific examples you can give?

2. Article 2- How did you go about literally recording the idea of economic depression and th other negative, intangible aspects of the town with ambient recordings?

3. Overall-I was wondering if Professor Hammer thought that if listening to such places only had an effect on people who could gather memories of it or understand it fully. Does someone need to have prior knowledge to be effected by these sounds? I'm sure that the sounds of places effect everyone, but is it really only those who are paying enough attention?

Questions for Steven Nann

1. How did you get involved in the creek walk making process?

2. What steps do you have to go through to make the creek walk?

3. What are the eventual goals of the creek walk?

4. What do you think of the whole South Side Sewage ordeal?

5. What was your job before the idea for the creek walk came about?

6. How did the idea for the creek walk come about?

Script

Our script is a real work in progress. Most of it was figured out by my amazing partner, Ms. Kalee Rinehart. We don't really have the times down yet, because we aren't totally sure of them. Everything will be rather quick and sort of in-your-face. We plan to utilize the ability to repeat certain things that people have said. Also, in most cases in the following script, the first word will be the speaker's last name. The word directly following is the word that they had said and the word we intend to use. Please to enjoy:

Kalee Rinehart
Alison Baitz
CAS200
Script

(This first part is an introduction to the wordplay. These are some of the words that we asked the participants. These are their voices.)

Mitchell - “I don’t know what Creek is”
“Blue” - Zellingers, Mitchell then his mom
“Water” - Eckhardt, Needle, Dowdell
“Creek” - Eckhardt, Needle, Heath
“Walk” – Eckhardt
“Onondaga Creek” – Eckhardt
“Brown” – Parker
“Pollution” – Mitchell
“Chlorine” – Mitchell
“South Side” – Parker
(Option: having “I don’t know what creek is” as said by Mitchell play between or during these foundation words)

(coffee sounds?)

Eckhardt - Water, my grandfather’s sweaters
Hampden - Giants
Zellinger - Sky
Dowdell - Sky
Kolodzigski - Red

Eckhardt - The annoying people who come in here and get ice and no water. It drives me crazy.
Hampden - Rain
Zellinger - Blue
Mitchell - Blue
Dowdell - Wet
Kolodzigski - Ocean

(music?)

Eckhardt - walk…charity event
Hampden - Everyday
Zellinger - Run
Dowdell - Sidewalk
Kolodzigski - Run
Eckhardt - work,

(recorded coffee sounds)

Eckhardt - starbucks, bars
Hampden - Sound Garden
Zellinger - Beer (giggles?)
Dowdell - Marshall Street, I don’t know why I just said that.
Kolodzigski - Expensive
Eckhardt - creek….an obnoxious noise. Like stepping on hardwood floors.
Hampden - Florida
Zellinger - Running
Mitchell - I don’t know what creek is either.
Dowdell - Water
Kolodziski - Onondaga

Mitchell - I don’t know what Creek is, I don’t know what creek is
Eckhardt - Onondaga? Polluted lake.
Needle - River
Hampden - Dirty
Heath - Never been there
Zellinger - Hum!
Dowdell - Dirty
Parker - Deformed fish, I don’t know.
Kolodzigski - Nasty. Nasty .


(music? Cd sounds?)

Needle - Nut
Heath - Paper Bag
Mitchell - Log
Dowdell - Black
Parker - M&M’s

Mitchell - I don’t really know what pollution is
Needle - Water
Heath - Terrible
Dowdell - Problem
Parker - Commerce
Needle - Street
Heath - Bad
Dowdell - Stinks

(cd sounds? More coffee sounds?)

Needle - Salina street?
Heath - Brooklyn
Dowdell - Home
Parker - South Side? The hood. I think of the hood when I say South Side.
Dowdell - Home, Home, Home
Parker - The hood
(*if we could get "the hood" and "home" to overlap, that would be, seriously cool)

(music? Cd sounds? Coffee sounds?)

Eckhardt - (Do you know where the creek is?) No idea. I know there was a creek clean up there, not too long ago.
Needle - No. Where is Onondaga Creek?
Hampden - No.
Heath - I know where the park is. I don’t know where the creek is.
Zellinger - No, I don’t. I don’t think I do


Mitchell- I don’t know what creek is either
Parker - Onondaga Creek, where is it?
Dowdell - mmhmm, It’s in that direction
Kolodzigski - Right next to the building.
Parker - Nastiness
Kolodzigski - We’re sorta like on it.
Parker - Nastiness
Dowdell - they dead wrong for putting it there
Mitchell - I don’t really know what pollution is, I don’t know what chlorine is, too, I don’t know what creek is either
Dowdell - I said they dead wrong for putting it here, that’s about it.

[END]

Fieldwork & The Yellowman Tapes, 1966-1997

Fieldwork by Bruce Jackson

In this article about interviewing for the purpose of gathering information regarding folklore. Jackson differentiates between this type of interviewing and the interviewing needed for journalistic purposes. Jackson explains lessons he has learned throughout his interviewing experience, which appears to be extensive. The article acts as a primer for the new interviewer about things to expect, and how to put the person you're interviewing at ease.

Main Advice, in list form:
-Codeswitching (changing behaviors based on environment when deemed appropriate by the individual) is okay and to be expected, but remember to be yourself when interviewing. Putting up a phony personal will likely turn the interviewee off.
-Don't create unnecessary fear of the recorder you're using. The interviewee will likely censor themselves, don't do this for them.
-Be sure not to show the interviewee what you find to be most important. This might influence them to change their answers in a way that they assume will be helpful to you, and therefore prevent further free exchange from happening.
-Don't guide the person you're interviewing too much. Let them take it in the direction they want to go. You never know where this might take you (in the case of Jackson, the idea for a book). This should be followed unless the person has gone completely and unhelpfully off-topic.
-Be careful with the questions you ask and their wording. According to Jackson, "there aren't many neutral questions."
-Ask open-ended questions. Ask follow-up questions.

Ideas/Thoughts/Questions/Reflections:
-I'm really used to interviews which will eventually lead to some sort of journalistic piece, so this was helpful in reinforcing the objectives of interviewing, though these things often intertwine.
-This advice seems catered to thoughtful, planned-for interviews, and less for the man-on-the-street interviews that we're about to conduct. How do these relate? How does one use this advice while approaching people who are not anticipating an interview?
-How much does one need to prepare someone for an interview when they expect to get heartfelt answers? The case of the man who wanted to get family stories from his mother comes to mind. Would this have been avoided had the son planned in advance and showed interest earlier? This didn't totally make sense to me. Why wouldn't the mother be thrilled to repeat her personal stories for a captive audience?


The Yellowman Tapes, 1966-1997 By Barre Toelken

In this article, Toelken describes his fieldwork in recording the stories of a certain member of the Navajo Native American tribe (Hugh Yellowman) for several years. The article focuses on issues of ethics- specifically when dealing with a culture with strict and certain beliefs. The nature of Toelken's recordings were rather sacred to the Navajos- the stories that he collected were to be played only during the winter, and would cause harm if this rule were broken. Toelken continued blissfully along until the subject of his recordings passed away. Toelken was faced with a dilemma- what to do with the recordings? It's clear that under their care, the recordings would be kept safe and played only when deemed appropriate. But what about when Toelken died? When Toelken's kids died? Toelken mentioned issues of ownership when dealing with these recordings, which act as artifacts after the death of their subject. Ultimately, Toelken decided that the tapes would not receive proper care, and left it up to Yellowman's widow to choose their fate; she decided to destroy them. Toelken believed that this decision protected the sacred material contained on the tapes and that it maintained the traditions and beliefs of a culture that Toelken, ultimately, profited from.

Ideas/Thoughts/Questions/Reflections:
-The issue of ownership that the author mentioned stuck with me. From the text: "On one level, the modern-day Kathlamets may indeed be the 'owners' of this story, even though they cannot speak in its language, but it is in the same way that the Greeks may be said to 'own' the Iliad and the Odyssey: the story has gone beyond tribal ownership and into world literature (Hymes 1975)." I believe that this is a different case then the one that the author of this article is dealing with. There could have been serious repercussions had the general public misused the Navajo story recordings. This is unfortunate, because these could be used as important learning tools, but I'll get to that later. Why does anyone have to own these stories? And why is it implied that if the general public is exposed to it, that ownership is less concrete and obvious? Does exposure to something make it partly yours? Of course some will use money as an indicator of "ownership" of the recordings, but does having a CD reproduction of a story mean that I own it? I own the compact disc, but do I own the story?
-The author is also quick to dismiss the importance of preservation and fossils. Just because they believe that this recording does nothing to preserve a culture, then it's unimportant. I believe the opposite. This "sound fossil" as Toelken refers to it, could be extremely valuable. Who knows what could happen in the future of the Navajo tribe? How could having a recording of an aspect of their culture be a bad thing? Also, Toelken implies that since these stories are meant to be told in front of an audience, this tape is unimportant. What about the people who wish to learn about the culture but do not have to opportunity to witness this aspect of it? I see a lot of value in the tapes that Toelken collected. I'm sure what I've said would not be new territory for Toelken, but these are my opinions on the issue.
-From the text: "He saw no indication that non-Navajos had learned anything significant about Navajo culture." This is in reference to a Road Runner cartoon. But before this quote was presented, Toelken said that many of the Navajos he spoke with had no interest in spreading understanding of their culture to the Anglo world through their stories. This appears to be contradictory. I don't believe that they need to crusade for better understanding of their culture, but it really makes sense why there might be misconceptions. It would seem that they would want for others to take an interest in their culture and avoid misunderstandings and misrepresentations.

I'm sure what I've said would not be new territory for Toelken, but these are my opinions on the issue.

Richard Lerman is pretty cool

Here are the links that I used in my presentation:

http://www.sonicjourneys.com/
(Personal site, lots to explore here. You can listen to and see samples of his work)

http://www.west.asu.edu/rlerman/PDF%20Files/Audio%20Schematics2.pdf
(High tech diagrams of the way Lerman uses his piezo disks)

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-03-29/arts/richard-lerman-q-amp-a.php
(article about his Fences-Borders project)

http://www.aureobel.com/lerman.html
(Some information on Lerman and one of his albums)

http://www.artifact.com/release.php?id=1009
(More info and a break-down of one of his albums)

http://eamusic.dartmouth.edu/~kov/soundArt/lerman.html
(all about Lerman and his piezo disks)

http://www.sonicjourneys.com/PDF%20Files/RL2007.pdf
(abbreviated resume)

http://www.sonicjourneys.com/PDF%20Files/Reviews_Lerman.pdf
(some press Lerman compiled on his website)

Photo from: http://www.aureobel.com/images/pic_rlerman_L.jpg

First Blog Entry

Questions about Onondaga Creek:

- How does the removal of waste work with and within the creek? I don't understand why a sewage treatment center would be located next to a natural body of water.
- The Ms. Magazine article states that Onondaga Creek is "equally polluted" as Onondaga Lake. Is this true? Has this changed?
- How is it that the city is able to build a smaller, underground facility in the more affluent area, and can get away with building a larger, above ground facility in the poorer areas?
- The article says that the new facility will be built in the "south side." Is this the same location as Armory Square, which we discussed in class?
- If the health effects of having this above ground plant have been proven, then how is it allowed to be built?
- I wonder what reasoning the EPA gave for dismissing the racism case. It seems that the EPA would want to pursue this cause.


People to Interview:

- a representative from the EPA. They could talk about the Onondaga Lake in general but also about the Creek and the issue of environmental racism. Obviously since the case was dismissed, they might not be too good of a source, but it would be interesting to hear what they have to say about the issue as well as the environment of Syracuse and the Lake and Creek in general.
- Linda Carty. The interview might include much of what the article we read was about, but could also give much more insight. I'd also want Linda Carty to talk about the people she used as sources in her Ms. Magazine article, so that I would have even more people to talk to.
- A representative from the Department of Transportation. With all the controversy surrounding the creation of a new treatment facility, what purpose will their planned creek walk serve? Why do they want to make a creek walk if there's going to be a treatment facility right there? How will these two things interact? What does the Department of Transportation want to do with the Creek Walk? Is it actually intended for people to use, since there can't even be benches? What other things did they have in mind?
- People who live close to where the facility is going to be built. Not only focus the questions for them about the new facility but about what the creek means to them. What do they think of the creek walk? What do they think about the project I'm currently participating in? What ideas do they have for solutions to this major problem?

First

Hello world, there's a song that we're singing.