No. 5 - Air

 "The ear favors no particular "point of view." We are enveloped by sound," says Marshall McLuhan on page 111 of The Medium is the Message.

 

Have you ever been in a crowded room, one where everyone is talking? What about one where everyone is talking to you?

In film making and sound design, there is a concept known as "walla". That's the sound, they say, that extras in a scene make when you want to room to sound lively and conversational. Those conversations aren't actually meant to be understood, simply heard.

When next watching a film, try and listen not to the main character's dialogue, but what's being said by people who don't especially matter to the plot. You will find yourself enveloped in sound, and, instead of being guided by the story of the scene, you will become lost in the tumult of voices.

Walla, and its tumult, inspired this piece of art, a song named "Flowerbed". It is a song made of voices, meant to crash down on the listener, until you can barely hear the actual words underneath.

https://on.soundcloud.com/UkzCZQ6JEx2LODtBbK

 

Thanks,

CJM