Site Awareness in Music – recontextualizing a sensation of another place

Knut Olaf Sunde

The project argues that a sensation of another place is vital to the recognition of unfamiliar perspectives. Space and sound are inextricably connected. The surroundings and context are central to how we perceive external stimuli, such as images, events, history, ideas or music. The brain interprets and make choices by association, based on what the body perceives and based on previous knowledge and experience. How humans listen, hear, see, perceive, interpret and react to our surroundings are based on our cognitive structures. An unformatting of society is needed. A risk makes the body and brain aware and alert. Adrenalin is released to the blood, enabling the organism to sudden and severe effort. Risk implies something unestablished, uncertain, a danger, something unknown. Risk implies the possibility of failure and ultimately death. Risk increase anxiety and excitement, enabling the alertness needed to maneuver away from or solve problems. When something is at stake, interest is set into play. The unknown is by its very nature beyond the body’s experience. The project is about increasing the awareness of the situational and contextual implications of music. This is enquired through three works. For each site or situation I work with, I analyze its characteristics, such as acoustical conditions, the relations of the place to its surroundings, the shape of the landscape and historical or political context. I try to create immersive, audiovisual projects that are connected to a certain place. I aim to involve qualities and characteristics from the place, shaping a conversation, putting something at stake. I conceive a music activating the place, making created situations. I do this because there is a close link between memory, comprehension and place. The sense of place and ability to navigate is essential to our memory and bodily existence in the world. Main supervisor: Ole Lützow-Holm Second supervisor: Marianne Heier

Reflection Site Awareness in Music, pdf

Mirnyj

SITE AWARENESS IN MUSIC

– recontextualizing a sensation of another place

Knut Olaf Sunde

Artistic research project conducted from October 2014 to September 2019.

Below is the reflection and a documentation of the artistic results.

Reflection

Comfort Music

Album released on MERE

Digital album booklet, 11 pages, pdf

6 min documentation video from premiere in 14 September 2015. Video: Roar Midtlien and Kim Sletbach Groustra. Video editing: Magnus Bugge

Film 4 hours, compressed stereo version of the four channel audiovisual work. Allowed for private and educational display. For public display contact Knut Olaf Sunde.

6 min video from premiere in Jakob Church 27 November 2018. Video by Millimedia / Norwegian Academy of Music.

Himdalen

Himdalen film, 50 min. Composer / concept / audio editing: Knut Olaf Sunde, cinematographer / video editing: Mattias Pollak. Allowed for private and educational display. For public display contact Knut Olaf Sunde or Mattias Pollak.