Pollution – Sound ( Noise Pollution)

“Sound is vibration that produces, propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.

In human physiology and psychology, sound is the reception of such waves and their perception by the brain.

Mechanical radiant energy is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves through the air and is the objective cause of hearing.”

     In our busy and often hectic twenty first century lives we are constantly being bombarded with a cacophony of multiple, of layer upon layer of sounds which intrude and interrupt.  Noise pollution is omnipresent in society today, so much that we often fail to notice it anymore – but it is there, with us and affecting us all. It is hazardous and can affect human health with high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances and stress. Each individual sound being distorted by others, interruptions, and diverse contrasts which cumulative can result in painful and physical sensations. Many of these noises are unwanted and unwarranted, music constantly being played in stores and restaurants amid generalised chatter, the roar of traffic, the hum of  machinery, sirens, and alarms. The suddenness of unwelcome sounds can be both frightening and disturbing to the young and old alike. Equally disturbing are the background sounds which although not over loud exist and contribute to our discomfort. Distant waves of sounds approaching, slowly building up to a crescendo, body vibrating and disconcerting assault our ears and senses.

    “Is there no time or place where we can experience and appreciate silence?”

    Perhaps we should look to sounds which are elemental in nature. While travelling in the dunes and deserts of Namibia, in the riverine jungles of Nepal and the high places of the Himalayas I would seek out situations where I was alone and away from manmade sounds. Retreating around the back of sand dunes in a desert environment, I stood still and listened at the silence, after a short time I was aware of the soothing sound of the sand being blown down the slopes by the soft gentle breezes. Similarly in the jungles, I stopped walking and standing quietly I could hear only the wind rustling the leaves in the trees. The quietness and silence of a dark night as the natural world settles into its night time torpor. The life and its sounds of the jungle gradually awakening on a cool morning as dawn breaks tells of renewal of the coming day. Listen to the variety of noises of falling rain drops, from the gentle to the downpour and deluge. On the coastlines of seas and oceans the musical progression of the waves as they lapped the shore, the shifting shingle beaches all offer a different and distinctive experience. These are a selection of the noises which offer me much reassurance and a comforting aspect to the elementary echoes of life.

      “Silence can be heard, but the brain creates noise to fill that silence.”

     The longitudinal sound wave offer peaks and troughs, undulations which conform to  varying amounts of pressure. They indicate movement and passage through time and as in the previous two tapestries, “Pollution – Water” and “Pollution – Earth” the role of the curved line is paramount. In “Pollution – Noise” this movement is found throughout and beyond the parameters of the tapestry. There is scope for sound to enter and to extend outwards, to appear from within and to fade away.

      Notice first the curving, sinuous and flowing lines. Let your eyes feast on this menu of varying, fluctuating  movements, the passing of time and the random entries of discord and strident and raucous sounds. One curve will join another and others leap from a multitude of origins. They spring, grow, and multiply to create and complete my design.

      The curve is total when it completes and becomes a circle, with no beginning and no end. It is a content symbol for renewal and rebirth, no significant source of death and decay, but a continuing cycle. No autumn decay and no ultimate darkness only spring revival, renew and resurrection with new life and the glory of summer with light and warmth. I have used the “Golden Section” formulae to emphasise the spiral, and to use an increase of size of circles to highlight the perspectives of near and far, of immediacy and approaching arrival.

       Hearing is one of our senses and when partnered with sight the result can be dramatic, consider fireworks, where a sudden explosion of sound is accompanied with brilliant colours and pattern. Thunder precedes the arrival of the flash of lighting. We see the streak of light and we await expectantly and with some trepidation the impending roll of thunder.

      As a tapestry weaver I enjoy the challenges, scope, and exploration of colour in this freer environment. From the selection of a range of colours from my yarn store I move to strips of cardboard where I wrap colours in a variety of amounts and explore colour combinations. We see colours not in isolation but in relation to the neighbouring tone. I seek for both harmony and contrasts, to create strong discords and jarring in the eyes of the viewer.  Freedom to react and express comes through only retaining the overall shapes of the design. Starting with pencil drawings in a sketch book where I investigate my ideas and concepts I move to colour with water colour paintings. This solidifies and firms my thoughts on designs to a point where I can make the decision to select one to take to the loom. After making a full size cartoon on tracing paper I transfer the shapes on to the vertical warp threads.

    I have incorporated a strident and bold colour palette, contrasting yet complimentary, dissimilar, and opposing to explore my theme. I have taken the sequence of the colours of the ”Rainbow” from reds through to violets but have not necessarily placed them in to the “dispersion order”, preferring to concentrate on the effects and juxtaposition of colour to create discords, harmonies, and conflicts. These effects aid the viewer, through jarring the visual senses into further exploration and movement through my design. There is emphasis on the “dotted” line, that which is so characteristic of the weaver working a single colour from one side. Moving to a solid line with created by the same colour incorporated from left to right and the return from right to left. The “lozenge” shapes gives scope for colour manipulation and a greater interest in larger areas.

    Implicit in this approach must be the careful consideration of the initial colour selection, the first few centimetres will indicate the direction of colour travel. Mindful, of the background and the selected shapes is particularly important for too light, or too dark at this early stage will change the whole design. How ever this provides a firm foundation on which to develop the woven design and to further explore colour and their relationship with each other.

    Through this process I have found that I have selected colour combinations which would not have occurred during my paintings. I reacted to colours contained in my baskets which contain a wide and differing selection. On the other hand, I have not incorporated colour sequences from my transparent water colour palette. I feel that this achieves more than merely copying from a painted design. It extends my thinking; it requires thoughtful judgments and discipline as well as demanding a greater and ongoing understanding and a reaction to my aims and objectives. It is important to weave regularly as I must maintain the understanding  of the previous sessions progress. Not following a “cartoon” with both shape forms and colour palette requires an ongoing and continuing relationship with my thought process. Having a studio as part of our home means I can see and observe the weave progress throughout a normal day’s activity. The end result, to me is more satisfying as throughout the weaving process I have followed a pathway whose ultimate destination is unknown. For me it has been a journey of challenges, of encounters and experiments, of questions and hesitations, where the “process” has become the real objective.