Photography. Everyone knows the sort of thing that term
conjures. There are many different styles and subjects that may come to your mind when you
think of photography, but the one common trait of photography is that it, like any of the
other forms of (strictly) visual art, is primarily absorbed through the eyes. Of all the
senses that we possess, vision is the most important for the visual arts. Touch (and even
smell) may come into play at times, but those situations are unique and vanish completely
when the art is viewed digitally.
This project experiments with the concept of trying to portray the visual arts through
sound, with an emphasis on speech. Can a visual image be accurately portrayed through words?
What style of verbal communication most lends its self to an accurate translation of the
subject? Would the best approach be a literal description of its hues, contrast strengths or
weaknesses, exposure levels, grain quality, et cetera? Or would it be better to try to
describe the emotion invoked through a metaphorical description? Maybe a poem inspired by
the picture would work best by becoming a companion piece. Who knows, but that’s what
this project is out to try to establish, and we are looking for you to - quite literally -
add your voice (or other sounds) to the experiment.
Your part
To help us with this experiment, we are asking
that you look over the piece of visual art found on this page, and try your best to describe
the piece, as best you can, verbally. Look the image over, study it, reflect on it. Then,
when you are ready, record your verbal description and send it to us. We are
not setting any minimum sound quality specifications, but keep in mind that it should be
readily hearable and preferably have little-to-no background noise. There are also no
recording length requirements, but a “best case” time you might want to aim for
would be between 3-8 mintues. Submissions will be reviewed and some of the most interesting
ones will be re-worked by a sound engineer/artist and, if accompanied with a release form,
published for the rest of the world to experience and enjoy.
Note that all submissions will be reviewed, but not all submissions will necessarily be
published. Use and/or publication of your submissions (and their derivations) will be at the
full discretion of Jim Anderson and Te Art Tech/Um And-Photography. You are strongly
encouraged to provide a release form with your recording (though it isn't required for
submission, it is required for publishing), which can be downloaded via the links below.
Here is the release form, in either PDF or DOC format. Please download the one that will
be easiest for you to use:
There are several options for making your recording, just use
the method that is most within your comfort zone. However you choose to go about it, make
sure that the final recording is digital so that it can be emailed in for submission. If
recording digitally, remember that the higher the bitrate, the better the sound quality.
The following is a list of recording options/suggestions. Feel free to use any of these,
or any other method that you are comfortable with.
Desktop/Laptop applications
Sound Recorder (Built in Microsoft Windows)
How to use
Please note that all submissions must be in MP3
format. Submitting your recording is as simple as emailing it to
utteredart@gmail.com
along with the following information:
Your full name.
The date(s) of the recording.
The title of the image that your recording is representing.
Release form. (optional, but required for publishing)
Any additional info that you would like to provide, like what style you chose to use
to describe the image, or the recording method you used, etc. (optional)