Medium Specificty

A Link to the Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/david-hawkes-7/this-god-of-sound

The process involved in creating this audio piece was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in art. My interest for sound design has been increased significantly, and the more that I examined the medium, the more sacred and significant it appeared to me. I decided to pick the medium of sound design because of my great love of narrative radio, such as Radiolab, This American Life, and Serial. I am also impressed with Beck, particularly in his earlier works, where he uses sound much as Pollack uses paint, testing its limits and textures. My love for sound was then informed heavily by Scott McCloud’s ‘Understanding Comics’. I love the idea of a piece of art describing itself, and I thought I would try it with sound design too. As McCloud did in his book, I began to examine what sound design really was, and what it’s capabilities were. I was quickly struck with how much sound design resembles the way that I believe God lives, and this became the theme of my final product.

I find it fascinating that God is heard, and generally not seen, though like sound, he is also felt. As I went about recording conversations and sound effects, I became surprised at how shocking the absence of noise can be. When you are editing sound together, it becomes immediately apparent that any break in the track will stick out like a sore thumb. For me, this has also been my experience with Deity. I do not think that he plays a large role in my life, until suddenly, he is noticeably gone, and the experience is empty and unforgettable. The comparisons between heaven and sound are nearly endless, such as sound designers ability to remove barriers of space and time, and also to present their subjects as personalities, without having us judge them by their physical appearance.

I feel that this project acted like a lens, returning the focus to me and my experiences. Much like the piano player who sits and plays nothing, allowing the audience to be the product of the art, I feel as though I was the end product of my own art piece. By focusing only on the medium, the artist is forced to truly examine how they will be interacting with their art. I believe that it is at this level of modern art where true personality and value shines through. My respect for interpretive artists has grown immensely.

The project has also really familiarized me with the medium of sound design. Though there were many places in the process where my inexperience shone through clearly, overall I think the end product turned out nicely. I am sure that I will work with the medium again, not just because I believe it is a great storytelling device, but I feel that I have now come to an understanding of sound’s importance to me spiritually. It is a medium that I simply cannot leave.