Description: Continuous Line Drawing of Sound and Place

Hello reader,

The drawing below was drawn on the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee campus. I sat on a concrete slab of side walk. My objective was to draw the sounds that I heard or what I felt best represented the sounds. However, prior to preforming this task I warmed up my senses by doing a listening exercise.

I stood by the campus' music entrance. I closed my eyes and just listened. When I closed my eyes it was amazing. I felt my ability to listen/hear dramatically improved. I could focus on sounds much better than with my eyes open. I noticed pitch variations, detailed sounds (a leaf blowing across the ground), and sound distances. These are all sounds that can be heard with eyes open, but I learned by shutting off one of my major senses (eyes) another compensates (enhances). After the listening exercise, I did the complete opposite. I plugged my ears with my fingers and just saw. My ability to evaluate visual detail enhanced. I noticed shadows on peoples faces, colors seemed more pronounced. I compared both my visual and hearing. I got myself ready to preform my objective by focusing my senses. I then walked to the fountain area just around the corner of the UWM's music entrance. Where I would do my listening.

On the concrete slab of side walk I determined which direction was north and positioned my body facing it. In the drawing you will see what I felt the sound were. I decided to do a continuous line drawing of my hearings. I chose to do a continuous line drawing because I believe it best represents the overall aesthetic value of the sounds. I felt all the sound were connected while I sat there. I believe I was not hearing things out of coincidence, but I was hearing things that have been composed over time to make a piece of music for that exact moment. Before the cars and airplanes, flip flops and large water fountains thing sounded differently, the music for that time was different.