LIVINGSTON SOUND
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Landscape and Soundscape course
Mar-Apr 2020 at the
​San Francisco Art Institute (old campus)

A new focus is planned for 2020 following on previous courses, but focusing on the practice of walking and sonic relationships. We have some new digital tools to explore, and always, welcome those without musical backgrounds and technical experience to join the collaborative project.

I'll have more specifics as we get closer, so check back for inspiration in artmaking. You can reach me for advance discussion as well, which will help me shape the course based on your interests.

Exploration of sound and music as elements for creating personal and shared space in the environment, through off-site field trips and team projects. Introduction to soundscape creation, using easily accessible tools, for personal devices and outdoor spaces.

In this course, we will consider how sound is used to create individualized experience, particularly as refuge from distraction and noise, and learn how to extend that to public space. We will ask: what does it mean to build architectural, landscape or virtual space for sanctuary, and where can we find it naturally? How prevalent is the incursion of noise pollution, and how can it be mitigated? How does sound relate to our body experience, where is there room for silence, and what are the timescales of sound in the public sphere? What are the potentials of sound mapping, digital and hand-drawn, and how can we create a ‘sonic transect’?

We will evaluate the potentials and limitations of iPods and headphones, binaural and immersive spatial experiences. We will parse the Bay area soundscape into the sonic and the acoustic, and discover solutions for personal and public benefit. Through off-site field trips to culverts, libraries, places of worship, glens, caves, hilltops, natural arenas, labyrinths, and cemeteries, we will discover soundworlds of escape specific to each place. We will explore coffeeshop soundtracks, white noise, ambient sound.

​You will have the opportunity to collaborate on composing a personal music, create a mobile app using simple tools, or design immersive soundscapes to create community. Tools will be provided for all levels of experience, enabling quick creation of collaborative projects. 


an SFAI Public Education program!

No prerequisite. No musical background or programming experience required. We'll make some fun fieldtrips!




Some  discussion notes

We will combine lots of field work and exploration of sound spaces  with discussion and a collaborative project. Some preliminary notes:


the isovist and space syntax
noise cancelling headphones
silent disco
the privatization of listening
construction of the private self
secret theatre
mobile privacy
Listening to Noise and Silence
Site of Sound, Architecture and the Ear
Listening Overlooked: An Audit of Listening as a Category in the Public Sphere
Aural Cultures
Revised Taxonomy for listening
isobel
transect
Audio cartography
4 components of restorative settings:
1 Being away (escape)
2. Extent (large enough space that boundaries are not evident)
3. Fascination (capturing attention with little mental effort)
4. Compatibility (being in an environment that is supportive of one’s efforts)
enclosure, threshold, simplification
sonic cartography and the perception of place
geographical space as fundamentally social
people construct their own sensibilities of space based on events, memories, and experience
Place is security, space is freedom
our first time in a space yields delight, the second comfort, the third contentment.
Landscape and Memory
A Pattern Language
Elevator Music
World of Silence
Ear Cleaning Exercises
deep Listening
Contemporary Landscapes of Contemplation
Spaces Speak
forest perception
Acoustic Design of Outdoor Space
forest bathing
offering sanctuary, needing sanctuary
sounds in spaces can create the perception of silence
public spaces as proofs of concept of the power of sound
sonic parks
listening modes: to listen (écouter), to perceive with the ear (ouïr), to hear (entendre), and to understand (comprendre)
the natural, the cultural, the ordinary, and the specialized
Points of Listening
sound-source identification
adverse, reposing, affective (inducing feelings or emotions) and expressionless
sound-image congruence
hortus conclusus
polychronism. timespace in music.
gendered aspects of sanctuary. 
poetics of experience: static-stillness-quietness, movement, viewing in stillness, viewing in motion
the right to remain silent
learned deafness
quiet for our sense of self
Escape and the Urban Landscape. 
ear lids
primacy of the visual
Sonic v. Acoustic
Taxonomies of sound
Temples
The Library At Night.
biophilia
sound mapping
wabisabi
sonic immersion
psychoacoustics of spatialized sound
temporality. seasonality
lingering vs strolling in gardens

Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating.”
—John Cage, Silence 

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Class Purpose

We will shape the direction together. If students are interested in developing a mobile sound app, we can use the echoes.xyz platform to develop a locative experience. We can also develop analog and digital sound maps, and collaborate on a public sound installation experience. I look forward to hearing everyone's interests and developing the ideas together!
hugh@livingstonsound.com
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  • Main
    • News • FAQ • Contact
    • Initiatives by Geography
    • 1-Click Video Portfolio
    • Profile
    • Lectures
  • Sound Gardens
    • Overview
    • The Gardens at Dumbarton Oaks
    • Norma & Evert Person Sound & Sculpture Garden
    • St. Francis Garden
    • LISTEN EDGEMAR
    • The Late Show @ Cornerstone Gardens
  • Spectacles
    • Opera Takes Place
    • The Library at Night
    • Sound & Place: Minnesota
    • scenes from a lingering garden
    • Russian River Triptych
    • Light Art
  • Video Art
    • Tallgrass Prairie Horizon (Kansas)
    • Palette Stripes
    • Sonoma Oaks: Points of View
    • RiverText
    • Color Palettes
  • Performance
    • Overview
    • CelloHouse
    • Hidden Creeks
    • Sound & Place: Czech
  • Please Be Seated
    • Conversation Pieces 2016
  • Russian River
    • Overview
    • A Periodic Table of the Elements
    • Stages of the Russian River
    • Sonoma County Museum Garden
    • Sonoma Oaks: Points of View
    • Catch & Release
    • Chalk Hill Artists Residency
    • Conceptual
  • Projects
    • Overview
    • SMPTE Centennial
    • Birds of Invention
    • Corporate Installations
    • Public Space Projects
    • In a Different Light
    • Traffic Noise Mitigation
    • Livingston Sound Technology
  • catalog