COFA Tumblr Blog

Loc Nguyen. Media Arts @ COFA

[locnguyencofa]

Talking Speakers (Sound Experiment) - video

In this experiment, two UE Boom speakers are set up adjacent to each other on a bench in the COFA courtyard. They are both connected to the output of two different H4N Zoom recorders.

I firstly created sound feedback with one speaker and microphone (Zoom recorder). The sound was recorded for 30 seconds. I then created feedback with the other speaker and microphone for 30 seconds, which was also recorded while the previous feedback from the other speaker is being played. As a result, the new sound was recorded in addition to the previous sound. This was done on rotation for another several times.

This experiment raises ideas about the social space of the courtyard. In a way, the speakers are conversing with each other - replicating the social interaction of other people in this space. With each new recording, not only was feedback noise amalgamated but so too were the sounds of people talking and moving through the courtyard. The sound that is then being outputted slowly changes and becomes shaped by the social space.

The sound recording of this experiment can be found through the following link: https://soundcloud.com/loc-nguyen-33/talking-speakers-sound-experiment

[locnguyencofa]

Piezo Transducer + Door (Sound Experiment) - video

In this experiment, a piezo transducer is taped to a stairwell door which is then attached to the input of a H4N Zoom. A UE Boom speaker is then connected to the output of the Zoom. The experiment initially attempted to amplify the sound of the door hitting itself when it opened and closed as people and traffic moved through. This idea sprouted from notions of bodily awareness and human interaction with space. However, something more interesting was discovered in this experiment. As the door opened and closed, the distance changed between the piezo contact microphone and the speaker which sat behind the door. As a result, feedback was produced through this movement and interaction between the two objects. Hence, there is an eerie screech-like sound that resonates through the space. This sound changed with people's engagement with the space. This unintended aspect of the work only enhanced the experiment's aim at exploring human interactions with space.

The sound recording to this experiment can be found through the following link: https://soundcloud.com/loc-nguyen-33/...

[locnguyencofa]

A Photograph (2015)

Loc Nguyen

video

5 mins 35 seconds

A Photograph (2015) is a video augmentation that follows through Hyde Park. Audience members are recommended to view the work from their mobile device while wearing earphones after the sun has set. The starting location to the walk is presented on a map in the previous post.

While following the video walk, audience members are reminded to align their mobile device with what is shown on screen.

Earphones are still recommended when viewing this work even though the audience may not be at the site, i.e. Hyde Park.

[locnguyencofa]

The following maps show the starting point for my Hyde Park video walk, which is represented by the red circles. 

The video walk starts on a park bench along a footpath in Hyde Park that comes off Liverpool Street.

Link to my video walk can be found here

[tulliz-cofa1001]

Failure States Studio Exercise Part 6: 

Blocking the only entry to the student lounge. Failure to do so was reached when one guy jumped right over the human stack of art and design students.

[locnguyencofa]

Assessment 3: Curation - in silence

Please go through the hashtag “in silence” on my COFA Tumblr blog in order to view the curated posts for this assessment.

[locnguyencofa]

COFA1001: Assessment 3 - in silence

Loc Nguyen

in silence #3

Audiovisual Work

19 minute 23 seconds

“In this work, I will replay what I am saying over and over. Each time, the second replay will start in time with the next word that was said in the previous recording. Eventually, it will come to a point where there is an overlay of every single word that has been said. Silence.”

in silence #3 plays on this idea that some have proposed, where the sum of everything in the universe is nothing. Appropriating this concept, this work ultimately sums up all the words that have been said on top of each other. In doing so, does the video become more ‘silent’ as it progresses? The work calls attention to different perspectives of silence and emphasises the loudness in a silent moment.

[locnguyencofa]

I love how this is the busiest I’ve ever seen my Tumblr dashboard. #LastMinuteAssignmenting

[locnguyencofa]

COFA1001: Assessment 3 - in silence

Loc Nguyen

in silence #2

Audiovisual Work

1 minute

in silence #2 is an audiovisual work which brings attention to this idea of the never-silent world. This concept was raised from my personal experience of tinnitus - even in silence, it never really is silent for me. The work incorporates audio recorded in empty ‘silent’ rooms, yet sounds were still picked up. The audio is complimentary with the image of the plastic bag over my head - a delicate object which is capable of producing harsh noises, which I can associate with tinnitus. 

[locnguyencofa]

COFA1001: Assessment 3 - in silence

Loc Nguyen

in silence #1

Video Work

1 minute 19 seconds

in silence #1 is a video work of me screaming, which is muted and slowed down. The erasure of time and sound from the work allows for the emphasis of my bodily experience while screaming - an action which exerts a lot of energy.

[locnguyencofa]

Concept Statement: ‘in silence’

What does silence mean to you? When you sit down in a silent space, is it ever really silent? What sounds can you hear when you really focus your aural attention? The world is constantly a noisy environment. Is there ever a moment in our lives where we truly hear nothing in complete silence? If sound were to be erased in sites such as sound proof rooms, we are soon able to hear very loud noises such as the flow of our blood, the beat of our heart and the contractions of our lungs.

in silence is a series which attempts to raise these questions about the erasure of sound. 

in silence #1 is a video work which removes sound and time from the act of screaming - an action which exerts a lot of energy. The process is broken down into frames of micro-movements which would normally be dismissed. Silence has the capability of placing emphasis on the bodily experience.

in silence #2 is an audiovisual work which brings attention to this idea of the never-silent world. This concept was raised from my personal experience of tinnitus - even in silence, it never really is silent for me. The audio recorded in empty ‘silent’ rooms is complimented with the image of the plastic bag over my head - a delicate object which is capable of producing harsh noises, which I can associate with tinnitus. The work highlights this idea of noisiness in silence, and in a way replicates the effect of tinnitus.

in silence #3 plays on this idea that some have proposed, where the sum of everything in the universe is nothing. Appropriating this concept, this work ultimately sums up all the words that have been said on top of each other. In doing so, does the video become more ‘silent’ as it progresses? The work calls attention to different perspectives of silence and emphasises the loudness in a silent moment.

Silence is a powerful tool that offers self-awareness. When we actively listen in silence, we notice that our bodies and surroundings are constantly producing sounds.

[locnguyencofa]

Tinnitus

With my minor case of tinnitus, a small ringing/screeching sound follows me where ever I go. The sound isn’t really recognisable throughout my day when there are louder sounds. It is only when it is ‘silent’ can I hear it - especially when I’m alone in my bedroom.

For the rest of my life, when I sit in silence, it won’t really be silent.

I captured these images in my bedroom (the site where my tinnitus is most prevalent) using long exposure and an LED light. The plastic bag is this delicate object but it makes really harsh and quite noisy sound. I thought that placing it over my head sort of conveyed how my minor tinnitus feels for me. It is this really soft sound that can become the most harsh and loudest noise I can hear in moments of silence.

[nikkifarmercofa-blog]

Responsibility task

[locnguyencofa]

Further documentation of us screaming.

[locnguyencofa]

Week 12: Responsibilities (links with Erasure experimentation)

The class tutors gave us 30 minutes of freedom. In response, we decided to scream at the top of our lungs out of the windows on the top floor of the D block. 

 It was interesting to see the people in the courtyard go awkwardly silent, and I thought it linked in with my research for Assessment 3.

[locnguyencofa]

Visit Original Link

While on my way home today, I noticed the train made no noise at all when it was arriving or departing at each stop. The reason I noticed this was because there was an awkward silence throughout the whole carriage at each station.

I found this interesting as it related back to my work and was very familiar to John Cage’s 4′33″. 

At each stop when the train stopped making or the chugging and metal sounds we are familiar with, the sounds of the passengers became emphasised - the sounds of people getting on and off the carriage, conversations, coughs, etc.

I decided to record this on my phone. This is just another example how erasure of certain sounds (silence) can bring forth other sounds, raising attention to our bodily behaviours.

[locnguyencofa]

Visit Original Link

Speculating on this idea of silence and how silence can actually be noisy, I thought about the idea people have brought up about how the universe is nothing. The sum of all energy and matter can result in nothing. -1 + 1 = 0.

I then decided to lay all the tracks found in my iTunes library on top of each other. Can this then be called my silent iTunes library? Based of that previous theory, can this accumulation of loud noise then be called silence? Maybe. Maybe not. It is still interesting to think about and speculate.

(https://www.astrosociety.org/publications/a-universe-from-nothing/)

[locnguyencofa]

A series of stills from the screaming video I found interesting.

Further breaking down the moving video format to still images - capturing the split seconds of body expressions that can go unnoticed.