The sound piece we have put together is an exploration of sampige road, with special focus on the flower and vegetable market on sampige road. It is a composition in complex layers, with sounds of the road, the market, us, and the people who occupy the space on a daily basis. Also layered into the piece are the sounds of daily life, sounds that we hear every day, like the ringing of a doorbell or the clinking of the cashier.
The concept behind the sound piece is to recreate the essence of our exploration of that area, the tension points within and around the market, and the sharp contrast of the environment - as well as people's behaviour - outside the market, particularly in the nearby Mantri Mall. We began with wanting to voice the questions of those who worked at the flower and vegetable market, the questions they had for the government, but we soon realized that the market, and the people were so much more than just their questions - and that their relationships with the space and their government couldn't be defined by just their questions for the government. So the sound piece became more of a dialogue, a dialogue not just between the people at the market - and their government - but with them, us, the space, and all the animate and inanimate elements that make it complete, and beneath it all, a pulse of tension, strangeness and familiarity that makes the market what it is. When we made the sound piece we kept in mind the idea of life, the idea of existence in a system, the everyday mundane routine and the heart beat, hence we have used the sound of the heartbeat continuously in the sound piece. Also we have tried to make some of the content we had more prominent so we used a lot of repetition, overlapping, tweaking and stretching on these powerful statements that we got from the market. The idea of the layers in not only technical but also goes beyond that, as we have tried to show a deeper layer too where we have tried to bring out the thoughts of people, the thoughts that don’t actually get voice due to multiple reasons and the very sense of the echoing feel of the sound piece tries to give a listener the exact experience. The Background that we have put is used in a very arbitrary way, there is no consistency, or a particular sequence, as we wanted to show the experience of anyone, with the traffic, cooker going off, the washing machine, the bike, these sounds serve the purpose of making a listener feel like he/she was present there.
1. A title for your sound-work. The title should capture the theme and idea of the work.
48 lakhs rupees project
2. What is the location for the project and investigation? Why did you choose that particular location?
the location is the fruit and vegetable market on sampige road as a main focus, and sampige road as the broader setting to this market.
we chose it because we wanted to look at the relationship of people with their government - and the space they spend their time in, and as the malleshwaram market was an example of a corporation market in old town bangalore, we believed that these relationships were already somewhat defined, distinct, and hence interesting. also, the upcoming malls and chain departmental stores coming up nearby, made the space even more interesting as old bangalore facing commercialized change.
3. What specific theme or themes are you interested in? How is this theme present at the location? See if you can find one strong theme that might involve other themes.
the particular theme we were interested in was the relationship between the people who work in the space - and the space itself, and through the medium of the space, their relationship with the government.
this relationship, was, of course, very much layered by the other people present in the space, including the customers and ourselves, as well as the space outside of the market, where stores like food world and reliance fresh were coming up, not to mention mantri mall, a massive structure at the beginning of the road.
the space itself was very well suited for the project because there were many varying feelings and thoughts running around about the market as a space, and the corporation that had built it: flattering thoughts about their local mla, thoughts about the 48 lakhs rupees in funds that were allotted to the project, thoughts about the good things about the space - and the unfortunate things about the space, all housed in the same heads, contradictory, and some complementary.
4. What is your overall idea with your project? See if you can write the idea for the project in a single statement.
the sound piece is a dialogue, voiced, unvoiced, heard and felt, a dialogue not just between the people at the market - and their government - but with them, us, the space, and all the animate and inanimate elements that make it complete, and beneath it all, a pulse of tension, strangeness and familiarity that makes the market what it is, with an effort to give the listener an experience of the idea of life, the idea of existence in a system, the everyday mundane routine within a weave of relationships.
5. What is your method, capturing sound scapes, recording statements etc.? How will you investigate the location? Why do you think this method is the right for your project?
our process began with interviewing the people in the market, and recording our own conversations there. we also recorded some initial sounds of the space, and the space around the market. because our project focused on people and their voiced and unvoiced relationship with the space and their government, we felt that it made sense for us to start with interviewing them, asking them about what they felt about the space, and probing them on the nature of their relationship with the government, and also asking them if they had any questions for or about the government - or anyone else who shared the space with them.
this led us closer to the feel of the place, which we tried to represent through our explorations with the sound in our composition.
once we'd understood this, we then went on to recording other sounds that would help us bring out the theme of the composition.
6. Who do you imagine should listen to the work? How will your project be relevant for that audience.
we want the people who use sampige road, not just the people who work in the market but they are very important, to listen to the composition. we have strung together their voices to create a sense of what the space - and they themselves and their relationship with the space - felt like to us.
the project contextualizes the market in terms of its broader location: sampige road, and we would like the people at the malleshwaram market to listen to their questions - and opinions from a different perspective, and hope that it makes them think about - how they view their own 48 lakhs rupees corporation market project.
we also want other people who listen to the composition - to take it out to the public, if i may use the expression - so that the voice of the vegetable market at sampige road is heard.
