Yolande Harris
Yolande Harris explores ideas of sonic consciousness, using sound and image to create intimate, visceral experiences that heighten awareness of our relationship to the environment and other species. Her artistic projects on underwater sound encourage connection, understanding and empathy with the ocean.
Used to build instruments with live sound and video in mind.
Recorded a busy bay with a hydrophone, picking up all the sounds that the boats made underwater that was lost above water. Merged this with a projector showing water moving on the floor. This was meant to showcase noise pollution.
Grew up sailing and still inspires her work. Inspired her work using GPS imagery and data for sound.
A previous piece uses a field recording of heavy rain and thunder, but it has WW2 sirens that have been repurposed for tornado warnings. This sounds awesome, and I want to use something like this in the future (1).
From a Whale’s Back was interesting to watch, here, a camera and hydrophone were tagged onto an orca, and the piece is clips and sounds from this recording. From this recording, you could see them swimming with other orcas, jellyfish and through the ice with accompanying music/sound made with a theremin, other live electronic instruments and the Celtic harp.
The relationship between sound and the image is extremely important when working with sound.
While this lecture was interesting, I wasn’t inspired for my current project. I really enjoyed the visuals of all her pieces and felt inspired by them, as I don’t need an amazing camera to get something interesting. I do plan on creating a video of the creation process of my instrument as it is played and then showcasing this when I am exhibiting my projects next year. I was also inspired by her piece “MISSISSIPPI TORNADO”, but I don’t think it can be transferred into my project.