Gleb Glonti
JUST TAKE TIME TO LISTEN
The project Just Take Time To Listen began in 2017 as sound graffiti. Over time it became more complex due to my growing interest in the aural architecture of cities. As a result, it turned into a project about the sonic environments of the spaces we dwell in and, most importantly, about a careful attitude towards these environments.
Having been recording the sound environment for quite a long time, I came to the conclusion that not a single recorded soundscape is capable of conveying an accurate picture, which is formed not only through sound but through the complex effect on all senses.
If you were present at the recording, then it will revive these — only your memories, this is a feature of the sonic image. But if you listen to a sonic image without the original multimodal cast in memory — the recording will not work, or rather, it will work differently. That wasn't enough for me. This is how I came up with the concept of uncaptured soundscapes and this project.
Having been recording the sound environment for quite a long time, I came to the conclusion that not a single recorded soundscape is capable of conveying an accurate picture, which is formed not only through sound but through the complex effect on all senses.
If you were present at the recording, then it will revive these — only your memories, this is a feature of the sonic image. But if you listen to a sonic image without the original multimodal cast in memory — the recording will not work, or rather, it will work differently. That wasn't enough for me. This is how I came up with the concept of uncaptured soundscapes and this project.
SOUND STUDY, SONIC MAPS
DIRECT AND INDIRECT PERCEPTION
In the original acoustic setting, the direct listener is present at the creation of the sound phenomenon at the place and time of its origin. His hearing is accompanied by vision and perception of other sensory modalities.
The mediated listener also listens with his two ears, but he listens to what the loudspeaker produces while in a different place, at a different time, and in other conditions from the origin of the original event.
In the original acoustic setting, the direct listener is present at the creation of the sound phenomenon at the place and time of its origin. His hearing is accompanied by vision and perception of other sensory modalities.
The mediated listener also listens with his two ears, but he listens to what the loudspeaker produces while in a different place, at a different time, and in other conditions from the origin of the original event.
CHOOSING PLACES
When I choose places, I am guided not only by the sound component, although I emphasize it, but also by the richness of the space itself and its social and cultural context. The latter can determine possible situations and, as a result, sound events, which in turn form an environment unique to a given place.
I propose the use of perception, an accessible mechanism of transforming mundane reality into an artistic one (Dmitri Kourliandski), to obtain space as a new and incomprehensible object. Narrowing the frame of perception to some places marked on the map, I invite the participant, the flâneur, to join the game, to obey the impulses of the territory and the meetings that take place on it (Guy Debord), or, to take a broader view, find the situations of recognition and rediscovery of oneself.
When I choose places, I am guided not only by the sound component, although I emphasize it, but also by the richness of the space itself and its social and cultural context. The latter can determine possible situations and, as a result, sound events, which in turn form an environment unique to a given place.
I propose the use of perception, an accessible mechanism of transforming mundane reality into an artistic one (Dmitri Kourliandski), to obtain space as a new and incomprehensible object. Narrowing the frame of perception to some places marked on the map, I invite the participant, the flâneur, to join the game, to obey the impulses of the territory and the meetings that take place on it (Guy Debord), or, to take a broader view, find the situations of recognition and rediscovery of oneself.
JUST TAKE TIME TO LISTEN KAMCHATKA 2023
sound laboratory, project
Sound is important, it affects all ages and permeates economic, environmental, societal, medical, industrial and cultural dimensions. It contributes to our individual and collective behaviour, helping to shape the relationships we form with others.
[...] In 2017, during the 39th session of the UNESCO General Conference, the annual Sound Week was proclaimed. As part of its commitment to help build sustainable societies, UNESCO is raising awareness of best practices related to sound in all areas of life.
https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/weekofsound
"The sonic picture of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is unique: it is surrounded on one side by mountains that block everything that happens behind them, they create giant acoustic shadows in which the city lives; on the other side there is calm water. Avachinskaya and Peter and Paul bays, if we are not talking about storms and bad weather, are quite calm, there is no dominant sound of the elements here, it is rather a rustling and iridescent texture.
In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, I sincerely wanted the city to use quiet electric transport that does not produce aggressive anthropogenic noise, through which it is not easy to hear the silence offered by the mountains or the harmonious sound textures of a large calm bay. We did used to this anthropogenic noise in large cities and don't want to hear anything else over noisy traffic, but there it's so clearly out of sync with the harmonious soundscape created by nature!"
Interview about this Kamchatkla project (in Ru)
https://design.hse.ru/news/3203
JUST TAKE TIME TO LISTEN MURMANSK 2020
sound laboratory, project
Murmansk is an industrial city — a port, which is reflected through the dominant feature of industrial sounds: cranes in a port, a railway junction. All that exists in natural sounds of water, seagulls and wind. The seasonal, but also quite dominant, feature is many sounds of interaction with snow: steps, the sound of shovels that remove snow, snow removal equipment, etc.
sound laboratory, project
Murmansk is an industrial city — a port, which is reflected through the dominant feature of industrial sounds: cranes in a port, a railway junction. All that exists in natural sounds of water, seagulls and wind. The seasonal, but also quite dominant, feature is many sounds of interaction with snow: steps, the sound of shovels that remove snow, snow removal equipment, etc.
"On my last afternoon in Murmansk, during a break in the blizzard, I headed out to experience Glonti's urban acoustic intervention, Just Take Time to Listen, carrying a map bearing the locations it was taking place in. Initially, I was stumped: despite standing, as requested, inside the door of the railway station and by the sea terminal, there was no sign of speakers or any hint of an installation, acoustic or otherwise.
Then, as the light came down, the penny dropped: Glonti was asking me to listen to the particular sonic textures of the city itself. I tried again, closing my eyes and trying to ignore the cold seeping into my fingers. Heard from a railway bridge, there was the rasp of a worker's shovel scraping snow, mingling with the grumbling of container lifts at the seaport and the occasional distinctive toy-like whistle of a Russian train. By the arts college, there was the rustle of fir trees and the churning swoosh of cars negotiating ice, in counterpoint to the foghorn-like vocals of a busker yelling his way through 1970s Russian rock. I'd never quite heard anything like it."
Andrew Dickson
The Guardian
Then, as the light came down, the penny dropped: Glonti was asking me to listen to the particular sonic textures of the city itself. I tried again, closing my eyes and trying to ignore the cold seeping into my fingers. Heard from a railway bridge, there was the rasp of a worker's shovel scraping snow, mingling with the grumbling of container lifts at the seaport and the occasional distinctive toy-like whistle of a Russian train. By the arts college, there was the rustle of fir trees and the churning swoosh of cars negotiating ice, in counterpoint to the foghorn-like vocals of a busker yelling his way through 1970s Russian rock. I'd never quite heard anything like it."
Andrew Dickson
The Guardian
