What I really loved about this assignment was giving myself the chance, within my own home, to open my mind and further broaden my sonic and visual awareness.

I wanted to challenge myself in what I could gather from this home experiment assignment, so I chose a room for the sound observation that I (originally) thought would be sonically empty, and difficult to notice lots.

The living room in my house doesn’t consist of much excitement. The mundane atmosphere is drawn from the basic elements within it, such as a TV, two couches and a rug on the floor. However, after listening for about 45 minutes, I managed to hear so much more than I thought I would be able to, and it was amazing to fully unpack this.

The most noticeable noises came from the rooms branching off the living room, including the bathroom and the outdoor courtyard. There was about a 10-minute period where the bathroom was being used for a shower while I was observing the space, and my ears automatically became drawn to it as it became the most dominant sound. It was also interesting because as the different sounds of footsteps, tap running and various squeaks and creeks played out, I closed my eyes and pictured the steps as they occurred in my head. The bathroom was located behind me where I sat for the sound observation, so I couldn’t actually see what was producing those sounds therefore had to use my imagination combined with my general, everyday knowledge of the process for taking a shower.

I decided to do the visual observation in the back yard. Of course it was going to be filled with all sorts of beautiful images and elements to not only capture but then further explore. As soon as I began observing, I was writing like a maniac, jotting down every single detail of what I saw. The most dominant visual feature of the space for me the entire time was not just the huge and beautiful contrast in colours, but the way the space was arranged. Shapes of squares and rectangles all fit into one another so effortlessly, and were almost pieced together and finalised with the green tall bushed in between them. I was outside for an hour, and after I had noted all the obvious visuals in front of me including the shadows that the outdoor furniture was creating, the colour and direction of the sunlight glaring through the cracks of the trees, and the amount of green, blue and red in colour, I was able to dive deeper and use my eyes to really search for other interesting and meaningful elements. One of the most interesting and intriguing were the spider webs branched across the bushes. The way the sunlight hit them and combined with the slight breeze cause them to come alive, and despite being so small, fine and delicate, they actually developed into one of the most noticeable things in the garden. I was then able to spot them everywhere, and see how differently they were placed and how the light was reaching them differently.

I am definitely looking forward to the rest of semester after completing this first assignment, and to see where my mind and creativity takes me.