Sound Cloud

https://soundcloud.com/kfhunterfilmp454

"Codes and Modes" Experience

            I attended the “Codes and Modes” panel on “The Weak Image: Documentary as Research.” When looking through the schedule, this concept stuck out as the most interesting. Perhaps I had high expectations, but it reminded me more of an elementary school presentation than creative professionals speaking on subjects that they are supposedly passionate about. I feel like I am being too harsh, but the fact of the matter is, I didn’t get much out of it. And that’s a shame since I genuinely wanted to love it. There isn’t anyone or anything particular at fault per say, but I felt embarrassed.

           When I heard  “Documentary as Research” I wasn’t quite positive on what that would entail. At a glance, it brought to mind a discussion from Media 101 regarding Eddie Adams’ photo of General Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting a Vietcong prisoner, one that people believe had helped speed up the end of the Vietnam War. A photo that ruined General Nguyen Ngoc Loan’s life when he returned to America because of the one sided story it told, showing him as an evil monster beyond repair. It proved just how powerful an image can be, and how skewed our thoughts become when they are not explained completely along side it.

           Irene Gustafson spoke first, and she seemed highly intelligent and I have no doubt she knew what she was talking about, but I made the mistake of sitting too close to the door, so people kept walking by me or chatted amongst each other heedlessly. So with that, my experience does not speak for the entire audience. She did mention Sianne Ngai’s Our Aesthetic Categories, which brought great insight into the subject matter. Gustafson used her example of how aesthetic judgment begins with the immediate feeling we may get when we see a photograph or the phrasing used to describe something, such examples were the adjectives “zany, cute, or interesting” and how they have a certain kind of connotation. The next person who came up was Charles Musser; he seemed a bit more upbeat about what he was going to present. He was also very hard to hear, and apparently made the error of depending on his PowerPoint/video during his speech. When the video he was going to play would not work, there was an awkward 10+ minutes in which a techie and Mr. Musser tried to fix the sound and PowerPoint before he gave up and read directly from his notes in a disgruntled and swift manner until he finished what one might presume as fast as he possibly could. I was confused and didn’t see the point they were trying to make. By the time Aparna Sharma stood up to present, it had almost been an hour and a half, which was the full time of the panel. Perhaps knowing this, she rushed through her speech that she read directly from her paper. 

           The concept of documentary as research brought to mind a cultural anthropology class I had taken, that brought up consequences that might occur when people are presented with only one side of a story. Consequently, one must be prudent when using documentary as research, as images create a stereotype at first glance.

Soundwalk:NYC

            When I started to gather the mindset to go out for the “sound walk,” I tried to imagine what I would add to the blog at that point, without actually having done it. I have lived here in New York City for almost one year now, and coming up with a plausible sound continuation actually stumped me. I realized if I wasn’t walking about with someone, I almost always had my headphones on with music playing. What surprised me was the amount of time I would spend searching for my headphones before leaving my apartment, causing much ado if I couldn’t find them. To be honest, I was affrighted to spend one hour outside, listening to the noise of the utterly chaotic environment that surrounds me. After all, there has been so much construction occurring around my apartment, as well as plumbers installing new gas pipes through my building causing there to be nothing but frustrating noise that could drive anyone mad. But so I left my apartment located in the mid 60’s Manhattan and turned down Park Avenue to go to Barnes and Noble on fifth avenue.
              Cars were honking, with the obnoxious drivers who believe if they hold their horn down long enough, suddenly all traffic will clear for them. Then there were the emergency vehicle sirens, non-rhythmic and piercing, yet they are almost always turned on. Whenever there is heavy traffic, the knowledge that someone could be suffering immensely whilst the ambulance is just stuck is eerie and worrisome. The street vendors who are everywhere in NYC are strangely the most silent. The homeless, especially in the low 60's on Madison Avenue, would yell out asking for people to "help them out." On the way down, there is a man who says "can anybody help me? Buy me something to eat?" The way he repeats this exact phrase and over again, in the same tone, it becomes a rhythm.  There are three homeless men in wheel chairs on 3 consecutive blocks with two wearing neck braces. They have been doing this for four months. The last guy will try to drive towards everyone who walks by saying "you gonna help me?" faced usually with silence. A constant sound is footsteps, mine included. Men wearing dress shoes or women in heels were the most noticeable. The sound of my shoes hitting the pavement would keep a steady beat throughout the walk, aside from when id tip toe around others to avoid run ins. The steps of others was abundant, accompanied at times with the noise coming from bags, purses, and brief cases. People would sometimes stop and reach inside their bags and I could hear the jingle and rustling of keys and other objects. However, most of the noises did not come from people, but by objects. Cars and trucks swishing bye, sirens of all kinds, and the never-ending and quite irking blare from the drilling and hammering due to construction. There is so much occurring that I feel a sensory overload, which explains why I tend to use headphones to distance myself from the utter chaos. Despite being overwhelmed at times, the buzzing atmosphere is an unmistakable trait of city life that keeps it interesting.
              In an attempt to get into the spirit of things, I began listening for everyday symphonies. Hearing the sirens and construction form music. Granted, it is a symphony that you have to really be looking for, but it was there. And it is what makes this city so unique! There are so many different sounds, smells, and colors you have to take in when walking through New York City, and they are always there! We just forget sometimes to take a minute and take our surroundings in. Our senses are what make colorful and beautiful.