UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON | SCHOOL OF ART | GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS
Spring 2014
ART 4395 | 23077
Acoustic Visual Space
Class Location 332 Fine Arts Time MW 11 am–2 pm Associate Professor Beckham Dossett
Contact 302d Fine Arts | [email protected] | design.uh.edu/dossett | hours by appointment
Project 2: Sound Journey
Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is a fictional
account of Marco Polo’s journey through
Kubla Khan’s empire in the thirteenth century.
While Marco Polo did actually travel to Asia
and stay with Khan, the stories written by
Calvino are from his imagination alone. In
this book, Polo describes his travels to Khan
and Khan asks Polo questions. These conversations are interrupted by short one- or
two-page descriptions of each of the cities
Marco experienced on his journey. The cities
Polo describes are fantastic and strange.
None could actually exist. Instead each
points to a deeper meaning or metaphor.
Project
Sound Composition
Read the short descriptive chapters by Italo
Calvino from the class handout. Select three
cities and make a sound composition that
takes a listener on an audio journey one-byone through the three locations.
The order of the cities in your composition
should be determined by you. The composition may be as long as two minutes, but not
shorter than one minute.
The Story Unfolds
Design an artifact(s) that a traveler taking
your journey would bring home from his or her
adventure. This could be something that was
collected on the way, an indispensable tool or
a document that resulted from the trip.
Invisible Cities Reference
http://archive.is/zj9ud
(an archived screenshot of a site)
Project Final
1. A digital sound file saved as an MP3.
2. An artifact.
Schedule / February
W 12 Introduction project 2/
Short documentary on sound design/
Short Demo Audition CS6/
Homework: Read Calvino handout
Write a brief summary of each of your chosen
cities and bring to class. Follow this format:
B rief Summary: A written summary that
describes the city and includes the following:
escription: Describe the things you imagine
D
exist there including human materials and
natural elements.
Associations: Make a list of objects, sounds,
adjectives, verbs that you associate with
each city. For example, water; song; silence;
oscillations; reflections; squeaking, etc.
Tone: Describe the overall tone or mood you
want your sound composition to convey:
Lonely, lively, mysterious, etc.
Title each summary with the name of the city.
Put your name on the sheet.
--M 17 Discuss Calvino handout/
Identify your three cities/
Audition demo/
19Sound recording talk in MD Anderson/
W
Bring collected sounds to class/
Audition demo or work in lab/
--M 24 Work in lab + artefact sketches/
W 26Work in lab + artefact sketches/
--March
M 03 Sound crit + artefact/
W 05 Work in lab + artefact/
Finalize sound/
--M 10–W 15
Spring Break
--M 17 Work day
W 19 Final crit
--M 24 Project 2 due
Reading
Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities, Orlando:
Harvest Books, 1978.
Guide to Invisible Cities Handout
Kubla Khan + Marco Polo: pp. 5–6
Cities & Memory 4: Zora - pp. 15–16
Cities & Desire 3: Despina - pp. 17–18
Cities & Signs 2: Zirma - p. 19
Thin Cities 1: Isaura - p.20
Kubla Khan + Marco Polo: pp. 21–23
Kubla Khan + Marco Polo: pp. 27–29
Kubla Khan + Marco Polo: pp. 43–44
Thin Cities 3: Armilla - pp.49–50
Kubla Khan + Marco Polo: pp. 73–74
Thin Cities 5: Octavia - p. 75
Trading Cities 4: Ersilia - p. 76
Cities & Eyes 3: Baucis - p. 77
Kubla Khan + Marco Polo: pp. 85–87
Trading Cities 5: Esmerelda - pp. 88–89
Cities & The Dead 2: Adelma - pp.94–95