SOUND

Sound is defined as a vibration that produces auditory information. People think sound is something one hears, but it is something one must listen for. There are sounds that go on in the world around us all the time that get ignored or overlooked. Sound is everywhere, all the time. Watching Federico Fellini's Opening Dream Sequence in class on Tuesday made me realize that even silence is a sound. Fellini was minimalistic in his sound design, only punctuating certain acoustics that he deemed important.  Fellini played with the connection between sight and sound, and how people immerse themselves in it. When there was no sound during areas of his clip, I began creating my own sounds in my head of what I thought should occur. I am not sure if these were Fellini's intentions, but it sure allowed me to see sound in a different way.
One of my favorite video clips that we watched as a class was Christian MarClay's Live Turntable. This piece played with sound collage, different textures of sound, as well as performance. Visually, this act was repulsive to me. The way MarClay tossed his records around, the way he scratched them up against the needles, dulling the needles, made it so difficult to watch. However, the sounds that MarClay could produce with his techniques were incredible, unique, and chilling.
One thing I found interesting about sound that I learned in class, was the idea of composition. Sound in any work of art you create, must have composition. The artist must think of foreground, background, space, environment, texture, pattern, and even more. I never really thought of giving sound these applications until now.