A NOISY MODERNITY
Whether it is sputtering sounds of water in a public square and heavy rain in steady traffic; or squealing iron wheels leaving the train station and wind echoing through skyscrapers, spaces speak… are you listening? Sounds are distally located events that add textures to a space; they exist in space, with space, and act as space. Sonic events, including vibrating objects and interacting bodies, are the mediums through which spaces communicate. What does it mean to listen to space? to experience space with our senses? This thesis looks at the changing culture of sound surrounding the railway industry and how it shaped the way sonically complex spaces—such as a fountain in a public space—are presently experienced. There is no ‘grand narrative’ for understanding sonic experiences, hence looking at two different periods in the construction of an overarching idea of the role of sound in shaping and shifting everyday perceptions of the artifice.
Designing “A Noisy Modernity”
A Noisy Modernity is a work questioning our implications with the sonic world, yet it acts as a sensuous experience where the visual and the auditory intertwine. Are we really listening to our environments? Every word resonates sonically as much as it projects the reader in another sphere. The format of the thesis, the tactile components, the sound phrases, the personal tone and the carefully crafted layouts are used to speak to the reader beyond the elements on the page. I designed the books and the writing at the same time, they fed on the other—grew into a bodily lived experience.