GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Ragnar Wilczek: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:52, 2 May 2025

Title: Oil Shale: Between Sound and Image

1. Summary of Research Interest / Planned Experiment
This project explores sensory perception and the way meaning is created through sound and vision, focusing on the topic of oil shale in Estonia, especially in the Ida-Viru region. The goal is to build an interactive experimental setup that separates what people hear from what they see. This helps raise awareness of how our senses shape our understanding. The setup will work like an observation platform that encourages focus and concentration.
2. Background Information
Oil shale has played an important role in Estonia’s energy and industry for many decades, especially in the Ida-Viru region. But oil shale is more than just a technical or economic issue — it is also connected to questions about the environment, history, and identity. The region has gone through big industrial changes and landscape transformations, often told through visual stories. However, the importance of sound — like machines, underground echoes, or voices of local people — is often forgotten. This project asks how stories and experiences change when we focus only on what we hear or what we see.
3. Main Object / Focus of Fieldwork, Research Question, Anticipated Outcomes
At the center of this project is an experimental art installation that physically and technically separates sound from image. The setup will be built outdoors, near a site related to oil shale, and people can choose to experience it either through sound or through visuals. In the sound space, they will hear recordings of the area — machines, voices, and natural sounds. In the visual space, they will see the surroundings without hearing them, in real time or through video. The main research question is: How does our understanding of resources, landscapes, and history change when we only hear or only see? The project explores how our mind and emotions react when only one sense is used. The installation will be recorded and turned into a multimedia presentation (sound and image). The aim is to learn what people focus on, how they feel about what they experience, and what kind of meanings they create. Another important question is about control and openness: separating the senses limits what we receive, but also allows for new attention and focus.
4. Technical Description: Tools, Method, Process
The installation includes a sound element that is held close to the ears. It plays sounds from behind the person and at the same time blocks their vision. The goal is to limit vision and enhance hearing. People’s reactions will be written down by hand as part of a perception study. Sound will be recorded using field recording tools (such as Zoom H6 and binaural microphones). The visual part will include video and photography. The installation is designed to be mobile so it can be tested in different outdoor locations.

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+{| class="wikitable"
+|Title: Oil Shale: Between Sound and Image
+|-
+|
+|-
+|1. Summary of Research Interest / Planned Experiment
+|-
+|This project explores sensory perception and the way meaning is created through sound and vision, focusing on the topic of oil shale in Estonia, especially in the Ida-Viru region. The goal is to build an interactive experimental setup that separates what people hear from what they see. This helps raise awareness of how our senses shape our understanding. The setup will work like an observation platform that encourages focus and concentration.
+|-
+|2. Background Information
+|-
+|Oil shale has played an important role in Estonia’s energy and industry for many decades, especially in the Ida-Viru region. But oil shale is more than just a technical or economic issue — it is also connected to questions about the environment, history, and identity. The region has gone through big industrial changes and landscape transformations, often told through visual stories. However, the importance of sound — like machines, underground echoes, or voices of local people — is often forgotten. This project asks how stories and experiences change when we focus only on what we hear or what we see.
+|-
+|3. Main Object / Focus of Fieldwork, Research Question, Anticipated Outcomes
+|-
+|At the center of this project is an experimental art installation that physically and technically separates sound from image. The setup will be built outdoors, near a site related to oil shale, and people can choose to experience it either through sound or through visuals. In the sound space, they will hear recordings of the area — machines, voices, and natural sounds. In the visual space, they will see the surroundings without hearing them, in real time or through video. The main research question is: How does our understanding of resources, landscapes, and history change when we only hear or only see? The project explores how our mind and emotions react when only one sense is used. The installation will be recorded and turned into a multimedia presentation (sound and image). The aim is to learn what people focus on, how they feel about what they experience, and what kind of meanings they create. Another important question is about control and openness: separating the senses limits what we receive, but also allows for new attention and focus.
+|-
+|4. Technical Description: Tools, Method, Process
+|-
+|The installation includes a sound element that is held close to the ears. It plays sounds from behind the person and at the same time blocks their vision. The goal is to limit vision and enhance hearing. People’s reactions will be written down by hand as part of a perception study. Sound will be recorded using field recording tools (such as Zoom H6 and binaural microphones). The visual part will include video and photography. The installation is designed to be mobile so it can be tested in different outdoor locations.
+|}