Transdisciplinary thesis at Parsons School of Design: How might we design sound as a strategy for social justice?
Demonstrations across America are nothing new, especially in response to police brutality. Video technology has helped bring awareness of police brutality causing the resistance and demand for social justice to continue. On December 5th, 2014, Midtown Manhattan, a deterrent sound device was used by police officials at a protest that was in response to the dropped charges of Staten Island police officer who placed Eric Garner in a choke hold resulting in his death. The device delivered a “piercing sound” to the protesting public, causing migraines, ear ringing, and facial pressure. Therefore, prompting the following questions: How is safety interpreted in America? Why would anyone trust officials with their personal safety?
The use of the sound device, or better known as a long range acoustic device (LRAD), along with many other devices alike, are meant to communicate messages and warning tones to substitute for kinetic force. During World War II, the use of sound became a tactful approach with intentions to kill. A better known name is sonic warfare. Germans, directly under Hitler’s command, used methane and oxygen dubbed into acoustic canons during WWII. Alternative tactics have been used in recent warfare environments. In 2003, US interrogators used curated songs from Metallica, Skinny Puppy, and Barney the Dinosaur, to break Iraqi prisoners. Mesoamerican cultures also used sound as a form of warfare tactics.
The Aztec’s utilized a death whistle as a form of intimidation. The sound characterized a horrific, screeching, and memorable sound only to be more terrifying when a 1000 warriors projected the sound together. It is no doubt that sound has been a form of strategy among humans. Though, warfare and protests are not the same and yet, in the 21st century, they are treated as so.
Sound can embody many forms. From the spoken language to the natural soundscapes, systems of sounds are very diverse, yet similar. For instance, the current powers at be in America, have utilized sound devices towards communities of color in the public media. Not through LRADs necessarily, but the English language. Words of hate, prejudice and dominance carry a dense tone of tension. The composition of words provoke the personal to become political. Public media spaces express how the sound of words can be used against humanity. During Trump’s announcement speech in June 2015, his racial objectification clearly targeted the Mexican community leaving an echo of hate.
The exclusion of communities of color and dominance of one race promotes for an economic structure similar to American slavery. Sound has no place in the systems that spit hate and project one race to be supreme, yet it is being designed for negative intentions. Design has the opportunity to intervene and strategize with sound as a medium for strategy towards social justice.
Sound is often left out in the design process. There needs to be a strategized intent or prototype of sound applied to the design process. Commercial media may have the largest handle with sound, but artists and anthropologists may have relatable examples as they use the human and non human to extract sound. It is there where one can begin to model questions to form sound strategies. What are the limitations of working with sound? What is the anti-disciplinary approach to working with sound through a design perspective? How can sound design unify diverse races? How can the immoral or unethical teach design new models of sustainability and strategy? What are the ethics of sound? Can sound be stolen? Design can no longer be about aesthetics and user ease for purpose of one institution’s monetary gain. Design has to move into a space that scales empathy and a grounding in community-based collaboration.
A quick scent of something recognizable will quickly take a person to their fondest memory of when they first had contact with the scent. Does sound memory produce the same experience? What types of sounds are embedded more than others? Sound experiences are very sensitive. A song will remind a person of the moment they first heard it similarly as the experience of scent does. In conversation, a he said, she said quoting can either be exact or only replicated to an extent. But a story, or a repetition of a saying from a loved one, easily gets in grained into a person’s memory. We were not all born full of hate and prejudice. It was taught. What if we connected with the psychological aspect of sound and memory to find spaces before the conversation of being taught hate and prejudice? It is here where we can also prototype, explore and experiment.
The form sound takes is one aspect to design sound systems, but the delivery of the sound can also take many forms. Artists like Samson Young from Hong Kong perform live installations of the warfare in the middle east with instruments and non instruments. His inspiration came from muted footage that visually articulated the catastrophe of humanity from one country to another. Another example of a delivery output of sound is from artist Camille Norment. Her explorations express the human connection between “fear, excitement, and ‘getting shaken up’” utilizing glass window installations and the vibrations of sound. Examples from these artist help with potential prototyping opportunities and entry points for community co-design and engagement.
Currently, Texas and Florida are experiencing the consequences of climate change. Texas is now in a state of recovery, but Hurricane Irma is on its way to Florida after already impacting the Caribbean Islands. Sounds were captured from the experience to give a sense of the intensity allowing listeners to begin to understand the catastrophe of a hurricane. Anyone who has experienced a hurricane can quickly empathize with the sounds that express the high speed winds, the stressed sounds of the environment being affected, and the uncertainty of what will happen next. In this case, only those who have experienced a hurricane know about the invisible not seen through the memory of a hurricane sound. It is difficult to further empathize with the non human. But if people’s stories or first hand experiences were retold they can potentially begin to create empathy. Though, storytelling can be used for advocacy and empowerment, can it also reflect objectification or subjectification of victims? Local news found social media posts from the Hurricane Harvey victims and followed through to know more about their experience and their rescue. If the stories were not heard through social media, they were definitely broadcasted in public media. Though, it is easy to highlight the “success stories” after a disaster but what about the stories of the lost lives? The victims who don’t have access to social media or related technology? The unsung heroes? Although storytelling is a way to empathize, what if the LRADs were repurposed for someone who needed rescue, especially a collapsed structure?
Moreover, designers use music, an aspects of sound, to inspire their work. It is part of the work flow and routine. Not often is sound used as a primary device or the first intuition to strategic design thinking. It falls back to an after thought if any consideration is given at all. As designers, music or sound effects are also used in the production phase, but often are not well developed. Challenges with sound is creating the right emotional sound. Designers know what sound compliments their work, but implementing sound into a project often falls short to deliver the experience for full audience immersion. Developing technology like artificial intelligence as well as virtual reality have not been able to completely solve sound immersion component of their storytelling narratives.
There is potential for social good to come from sound design, but there needs to be an intervention or curation of sound elements to embrace new modes of design. Where something like the unethical or invisible can lend principles for innovative strategies.
For example, in comic book literature, there is the divide between good and evil. The superhero and the villain. Studying the superhero, the design model is responsive to the villain. On the other hand, the villain maybe radical and has negative intentions, but has a model of actionable practices. The superhero has to respond to the wrong doings of the villain, the villain only responds to the superhero for the desire of dominance and power. From here, principles can be extracted from the comic book literature dynamics for sound design.
From sonic warfare to comic books, there is space for designing with sound. Disney’s Fantasia or the Star Wars films are an excellent example of immersive sound experiences and allows for people of diverse backgrounds to come together. How can we design sound for social good? For social justice? To begin to empathize with those that do not share similar values?
(Written before the impact of Hurricane Irma, 2017)
