Place and sounds ︎︎︎
This exercise will take some advance planning
and may not in all cases be feasible, but I highly recommend it as a powerful
experience that won’t be easily forgotten. The idea is to place listeners, who
are blindfolded, in an environment they do not know and have them describe it
by listening to it.
In order for the participants to sense the selected environment as alien it may be necessary to transport them to it in cars or on the bus. The teacher should have a few assistants to help lead the blindfolded participants gently to the chosen spot, which, of course, should be selected in advance. When the site is reached the participants may be seated on the ground.
At first it will be difficult to describe the environment with accuracy, but the leader asks the right kinds of questions it will soon become possible to see it quite clearly with the ears. The wind will reveal the pressure presence of trees, grass, flags, tunnel areas, etc. If the leader shots in different directions walls or other obstacles will become evident by reverberation. Smaller objects for reveal acoustic shadows it’s if the leader moves around them while talking. Fences or polls will be revealed if they are tapped, and the materials on the ground surfaces will be discovered when walked on. But the acoustic picture imagined will never be identical with the real one. The moment when the blindfolds are removed always proves to be a remarkable experience.
In order for the participants to sense the selected environment as alien it may be necessary to transport them to it in cars or on the bus. The teacher should have a few assistants to help lead the blindfolded participants gently to the chosen spot, which, of course, should be selected in advance. When the site is reached the participants may be seated on the ground.
At first it will be difficult to describe the environment with accuracy, but the leader asks the right kinds of questions it will soon become possible to see it quite clearly with the ears. The wind will reveal the pressure presence of trees, grass, flags, tunnel areas, etc. If the leader shots in different directions walls or other obstacles will become evident by reverberation. Smaller objects for reveal acoustic shadows it’s if the leader moves around them while talking. Fences or polls will be revealed if they are tapped, and the materials on the ground surfaces will be discovered when walked on. But the acoustic picture imagined will never be identical with the real one. The moment when the blindfolds are removed always proves to be a remarkable experience.
Welcome to mapping collaboration, a toolbox for workshopping and creating across disciplines...
In spite of a long history of interdisciplinary creation, from our earliest recorded arts to our present moment, artistic pedagogy has created divisions between disciplines. This has left artists in a "post-Babel" condition where we don't share the same language and definitions. It’s also encouraged artists to develop practices for devising, creating and composing work that are distinct to their disciplines.
In spite of a long history of interdisciplinary creation, from our earliest recorded arts to our present moment, artistic pedagogy has created divisions between disciplines. This has left artists in a "post-Babel" condition where we don't share the same language and definitions. It’s also encouraged artists to develop practices for devising, creating and composing work that are distinct to their disciplines.
The inspiration for this project came from faculty and students at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts where BFA, MFA and PhD programs in Dance, Theatre Production and Design, Visual Art, Film, and Music and Sound all work together in studio settings and playfully experiment with processes of art-making.
We wanted to create a database of projects, assignments and theory that we collect inside the studio and from research happening in other places. We are curious about how we collaborate and how structures reoccur, translate and deviate from one discipline to another.
Composition is central to these processes and offers a base for our approaches and experiments. We are excited about what our students are doing and inspired by the new languages in contemporary art and performance we continue to see develop.
︎︎︎select a category above to build assignments, learn more about how artists process ideas across disciplines and to create a collaborative process of your own
︎︎︎these tools are collected and used in workshops and classes; some are resources from artists; some are quotes about art-making and how bodies think and listen; others are ideas to expand and disrupt your own training and processes.
︎︎︎Each idea is intentially short- and not meant to be executed as written, but to be adapted to your own practice and specific project/context. Some may be taken in parts or combined with others to spark new ways of training and making together.
︎︎︎submit your own ideas and tools so we can keep building this site!
︎︎︎select a category above to build assignments, learn more about how artists process ideas across disciplines and to create a collaborative process of your own
︎︎︎these tools are collected and used in workshops and classes; some are resources from artists; some are quotes about art-making and how bodies think and listen; others are ideas to expand and disrupt your own training and processes.
︎︎︎Each idea is intentially short- and not meant to be executed as written, but to be adapted to your own practice and specific project/context. Some may be taken in parts or combined with others to spark new ways of training and making together.
︎︎︎submit your own ideas and tools so we can keep building this site!
