Audio
The first two recording were taken at lunch at Lentil as Anything in Northcote with some friends.
Zoodles and Dosas: In this recording, you can hear my friends in a cafe, discussing the food on the menu, most noticeably dosas. My friends and I can’t get enough of potatoes, to the point where potato feasts are regular occurances and a bit of a running joke, so I thought this was a good recording to include.
Cafe atmosphere: This recording is, as the title suggests, a recording of the noise in the cafe. It is one of favourite places and I often go there with friends. I enjoy the atmosphere of not only Lentil’s, but many of the cafes in the Northcote/Fitzroy area. I included this recording as I feel it shows the importance of Melbourne’s cafe culture in my own life.
Walk to the train station: This is a recording of my walk to the train station on my way to university. My street is on a train thoroughfare and you can always hear the trains from my house. These are the sounds I hear on a daily basis and they remind me of home.
- This photo shows my friends in the recordings after lunch. I asked them to leave a space in the middle of the photo, symbolic of where I fit in. These people are incredibly important to me and have greatly influential in terms of helping become the person I am.
- My CD collection. These are all the CDs in my room. Some I bought myself, and others were given to me by friends. While this is only a small selection of the music I regularly listen to, it was the best way I could think to show important my music is to me.
- This is a map of Northcote, where I have lived since I was three. The map shows many of the places that were important to me during my childhood, such as my kindergarten and the pool, as well as the main shopping strips and the my friend’s streets where I spend much of my spare time today
- A photograph of my grandmother, Valerie, my mother’s mother, who I never met. I have learnt much about through my own mother. The conversations I have with mum about her not only help me understand who she was, but makes me realise how much my ancestors had to go through for me to be here today. This photograph also happens to sit on our piano, which was handed down to us from my father’s parents. Essentially, this photo captures much of my family history.
- A role of super 8 film. This film was used by my grandfather, and shows my mum and her siblings as children. It is most likely to have been the first film produced by my family. I find it incredibly fascinating to watch, not only as I’m able to see my mum as a tiny baby, but also to make the comparisons between the technology used to film my mother and the technology they used to film Jacqui and I. Soon I hope to have the footage digitized so I could use for my own projects.
- A photo of me holding my baby sister. This photo was taken a few days after my sister Jacqui was born. Jacqui is the most important person to me in the world, and has had a massive influence on me. She is always honest with me, but also has a lot of belief in me and encourages me to go after the things I really want. I wouldn’t be where I am now without her.
(P.S. Flickr wouldn’t embed properly, that’s why it’s a link)
Videos
The three video recording are of my bedroom walls. For the past few years, I have blu-tacked all kinds of posters, photos and cards to my walls. I felt they were a good representation of not only who I am today, but how I’ve become that person, as some of the items I collected as early as Grade 3.
Text:
We are shaped by the world around us
We are shaped by our experiences
We are shaped by the people who surround us
We collect things along the way that make us who we are
I felt this was the simplest way to explain what I was trying to achieve in my selection of photos, videos and audio recordings. The exercise made me think back to when I studied philosophy at high school, and the area we did on identity and the self. Similarly to that area of study, this exercise has made me look at not only who I am, but how I have to become this person.