Olga Palomäki: Interference
Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari / Pikkujätkä
29.5.-15.6.2014
Noise pollution is a global environmental problem. It causes severe mental and physical illnesses to people, and it can be fatal to the ecosystems all over the world. The long-term effects of being exposed to noise are unpredictable. It alters the special behaviour of animals, and it may even lead to extinction of many species. The constant background noise in urban areas is inescapable. It was impossible for me to cope with. Therefore, I adapted a new approach towards the urban soundscape. I started listening to it as if it was an uncontrolled composition with a music-like structure.
Manipulated (Sounds For Headphones) is a collection of soundscapes based on field recordings. I focus on the constant background noise in urban areas. I record man-made sounds – the electric buzz and hum, the industrial beats of the machines and vehicles – sounds, that are easily ignored because of their banal or irritating nature.
I deconstructed the field recordings into fragments, and explored them, in order to shape them into a new form. They transformed into soundscapes of a parallel reality.
Parallel City is an ongoing soundscape project. The soundscapes are based on field recordings made in contradictory sonic environments in Helsinki. Parallel City consists of modified sounds recorded in places with high levels of industrial noise. The noisy places I’ve chosen to work with are located in otherwise silent areas, near nature. Each soundscape consists of sounds recorded in one, defined area.
Parallel Landscape (2013) is a glimpse into the world created by the soundscapes. In the video, the urban environment transforms into a journey through an imaginary city. The abstract forms merge into the representational imagery.
Contact:
www.olgapalomaki.net
olga.palomaki(at)gmail.com
+358443311746
