My friend who lives in the Junction area of West end of Toronto within a low density low mixed residential neighbourhood has agreed to participate in the experiment. It will be on March 11, 2023.
I have modified the scores slightly and included new questions in the feedback questionnaire to see if the scores give any clue to the participant about the existing social environment in his neighbourhood street block. His perception of the street block doesn't have to reflect the reality of the social atmosphere but what is important is what he perceives after being engaged with the visual/auditory dimensions of the street.
I did my solo investigation in my neighbourhood through sensory walking with an intention to find a human sound/voice. It was the final week of March. I continued sensory walking at different times of the day on two days that week and yet failed to find a single human sound on the street. Yes, people were in their cars but I was trying to hear voice of people on the street in my neighbourhood.
It disappointed me and also made me ask - why aren't there any people outside? Even after work hours, there was nobody on the street.
This absence of human voice on my neighbourhood street is an unfortunate but a common phenomenon and I created this score to capture it.
Week 14 : April 3 - April 9 : Pop-Up Site-Specific Score Installation: Walk in Search of a Human Sound
A Sensory engagement score creation: Using body movements to create deeper sensory embodied engagement with physical/material and social dimensions of public spaces
Choreographic thinking on pedestrian movements inspired by post-modern dancer/choreographer Yvonne Rainer
- Based on the knowledge I gather from solo sensory walking and improvisational moving - performing public space
- Use walking as a point of departure for movement creation for residents
- Use repetition
- Contrast between habitual and non-habitual pedestrian movements
- These scores have to be simple in terms of movements so that general public can use them.
This site-specific score was intended to re-orient participants visual attention in order to engage them with elements right next to the sidewalk that they would not notice otherwise.
- Started reading literature on Social interactions in the Public Realm, particularly books written by Lyn H. Lofland
- Modified the scores briefly based on Danae's suggestions. The additional elements in the score will attempt to capture the sense of social dimensions in the neighbourhood public spaces. Also included a few additional questions to capture this social dimension.
- Investigating social behaviours on the streets of my neighbourhood on March 6 between 10:30am and 11:30am. Zero to very minimal activity within the neighbourhood. The Pine Ridge school lunch hour starts at 10:45am. A lot of students walk to the small plaza at Liverpool Road and Bushmill to buy lunch. Their activity turns the silent and only traffic dominated street into a social space for that hour between 10:45 and 11:45am as they walk with their freinds, chatting, laughing, socializing on the street. They also break the rules of the street as they cross the street where they are not supposed to be crossing.
Solo improv movement - attempting to listen to and embody the sound of these tall grasses in my neighbourhood in order to create a potential score for 'Soundbathing'. How can you embody the sound of public space to engage with it more?
Experiment with a landscape planner from the City of Toronto in her neighbourhood. It will be on March 18, 2023.
I have added a few more score components to the visual engagement compared to the scores used in experiment conducted on March 11, 2023. The feedback questionnaire have also been improved to gather more information on the participants' perception of social atmosphere of her street block following her visual engagement with the street and the surrounding elements.
Score 2: View form the Sidewalk
Motivation: Sidewalk next to streets are another common features of residential neighbourhoods. However, not every streets have sidewalks and not every section of the streets have sidewalks in my neighbourhood.
I have developed the scores on my street’s (Abbey Road) sidewalks and the sidewalk on the street (Halsey Lane) that intersects my street. Driveway on the sidewalks are another very common feature within residential neighbourhood.
For the study, I used a small segment of Abbey Road that I defined with a beginning and an end, e.g. a defined starting point and a defined end-an intersection with another street. This would avoid wayfinding which could have impacted the visual engagement. Halsey lane was chosen during the study because of its linear structure.
Streets/sidewalks.
Planning a second score installation in my neighbourhood at Abbey Road and Rigby drive.
The instructions will be written on laminated papers and tied around the trees at an eye level of an adult. There is a row of 8 trees next to the sidewalk that will be used for this installation. I am planning to install this score next week.
10.0 Ubering my visual perspectives (Uber moving at 45km/h or more
Video Link: https://youtu.be/ZChSggl90Qw
Workshop with dancers for performance creation of embodied Visual and auditory experience on Toronto Island.
This idea will not be pursued during the course of the project because new ideas have emerged which are more aligned with the project's current goal.
Some were developed in Period 1, but most in period 2.
These scores are suitable to be used by residents, artists, neighbourhood community activity initatives, urban planners etc.
Planning a score installation in my neighbourhood at Abbey Road and Halsey Lane.
The instructions will be written on laminated papers and tied around the trees at an eye level of an adult. There is a row of 5 trees next to the sidewalk that will be used for this installation. I am planning to install the score on Friday night this week.
Score 1: Seeing a House from the street
Motivation: Houses are the most common and dominant architectural elements in residential neighbourhoods. They are our first points of interaction with the architectural essence of a residential neighbourhood. But how do we engage with them?
Here I investigated a few scores to engage with them visually while moving.
7.0 More cars, dogs and a bird's next
Video Link:https://youtu.be/odOWb71IrhQ
4.0 Out of Abbey and onto Liverpool Road
Video Link: https://youtu.be/PmONbhq_KjQ
Video for Portfolio Assessment 2:
How do participants explore the scores through movements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEWSONMjVs
January 28, 2023
"The way to get at what goes on in the seemingly mysterious and perverse behaviour of cities is, I think, to look closely, and with as little previous expectation as is possible, at the most ordinary scenes and events, and attempt to see what they mean and whether any threads of principle emerge among them." Jane Jacobs in The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Investigation site:
A suburb of Greater Toronto Area - Pickering
Reflections: It was a cold winter day. I started walking in the neighbourhood in the afternoon and spent around 45 minutes walking on Liverpool Road between Halsey Lane and Bushmill. It was a weekend and hardly anybody was out. The few people who I saw on the street were close to the Liverpool and Bushmill intersection where the small plaza is. They were out walking their dogs. The vehicular traffic was still quite active which means people were going outside but preferred driving to their destinations instead of walking because of the cold temperature.
This walking helped me get a sense of where people are on my neighbourhood streets/in the area, how they use the streets during weekends in winter.
The objective of this investigation is to understand what I see and hear when I am either walking or sitting inside a moving car. Walking in the morning, running, walking the dogs, cycling, and driving are the different modes- with driving being the most dominant mode- of transportation in my neighbourhood.
Today I am walking in my neighbourhood the way I would normally walk and recording my visual and auditory experience through SONY HD Action camera.
I also recorded my visual perspectives while riding an Uber through my neighbourhood.
Camera Lens: It has a fisheye lens that bends/distorts the images on the edges.
One resident has agreed to participate in my experiment this week. She has been a resident of this neighbourhood for 30+ years and lives on the same street as mine.
I am taking preparation for this experiment this week.
For drawing attention of the community I have been trying some techniques. I am talking to people on the streets in my neighbourhood. I am introducing my project to them. My actions and investigations on the street has already received unintended attention from the residents in my neighbourhoods.
1.0 Preparation
Video Link: https://youtu.be/vFT1-SatOqY
2.0 Walking on sidewalks halfway through Abbey Road
Video Link: https://youtu.be/66zKwt9m3e8
Solo sensory moving
to investigate my relation with traffic sounds in the neighbourhood as an user of public space
https://youtu.be/6T8JCu1OnAk
5.0 On Liverpool Road where The Beatles sings the songs of cars
Video Link: https://youtu.be/JqYnOI9zjkU
8.0 Walking some more
Video Link: https://youtu.be/ka5HBuRJvMo
Reflections: It was a cold winter day. I started walking in the neighbourhood in the afternoon and spent around 45 minutes walking on Liverpool Road between Halsey Lane and Bushmill. It was a weekend and hardly anybody was out. The few people who I saw on the street were close to the Liverpool and Bushmill intersection where the small plaza is. They were out walking their dogs. The vehicular traffic was still quite active which means people were going outside but preferred driving to their destinations instead of walking because of the cold temperature.
This walking helped me get a sense of where people are on my neighbourhood streets/in the area, how they use the streets during weekends in winter.
The objective of this investigation is to understand what I see and hear when I am either walking or sitting inside a moving car. Walking in the morning, running, walking the dogs, cycling, and driving are the different modes- with driving being the most dominant mode- of transportation in my neighbourhood.
Today I am walking in my neighbourhood the way I would normally walk and recording my visual and auditory experience through SONY HD Action camera.
I also recorded my visual perspectives while riding an Uber through my neighbourhood.
Camera Lens: It has a fisheye lens that bends/distorts the images on the edges.
New ideas have emerged since my last meeting with dancers. I will work on those new ideas - for instance, score installation, participatory group events with residents to explore scores in social settings.
Invitation Letter to Residents in my neighbourhood. I walked door to door to drop this letter to all 58 households in my neighbourhood.
Solo improv movement - attempting to listen to and embody the sound of the river in my neighbourhood in order to create a potential score for 'Soundbathing'. How can you embody the sound of public space to engage with it more?
Participatory experiment 4:
A friend and a resident from Toronto West Bloordale neighbourhood took part. She is a 'deep listening' practitioner and was interested in exploring only the auditory scores.
Unfortunately, the feedback interview was done in a coffeeshop and it was quite noisy at the time. I will have to find a noise reduction software to clean the background noise before I can fully extract the contents of the interview from the recording.
3.0 Soundscape on Abbey Road on a Wintery Noon
Video Link: https://youtu.be/8nbYqIcdH8E
6.0 When the crow pleases my eyes on a sunless afternoon
Video Link: https://youtu.be/BKvwa_TwX4s
9.0 Where are the crows, dogs, nuthatchers and chickadees
Video Link: https://youtu.be/hwP9hVJb3NU
Materials used for installations are:
- Laminated paper with scores
- Signage Sticks
- Coloured cable ties
Score Modification:
- The generic scores were modified to include site-specific instructions. Investigation to site prior to installation was done so identify interesting sites and perspectives that pedestrians normally would not notice or think to ponder upon or imagine in their day to day movement through the site.
