Reasoned resonance(s): looking back at situated, sensitive, and "measured" experiences

Abstract

Our essay is first and foremost the result of an encounter. An architect/illustrator/sound designer; a doctoral student in fine arts/motion designer; and a social science researcher met at a Winter School organized by the Center for Research on Sound Space (CRESSON) and the urban environment of the Ambiances Architectures Urbanités laboratory. Three perspectives, three pairs of ears. One shared theme: Echo of Life: Listening to Biodiversity in Jean Verlhac Park. Three experiences. Starting with two short sound pieces we created in this context, we aim, through a collaborative approach, to explore the notion of "resonance," closely linked to the echo, and to place it in perspective through a transdisciplinary approach.

A sound effect in a given context, a noise attenuated or transformed, producing an effect on oneself and on the environment, the echo cannot exist without what precedes it. The same is true for resonance. It is also the interpretation we make of it that can give it a particular meaning.

From the challenges of capturing sound sources in the dead of winter in an urban environment, to the interpretation of recorded sounds and the narratives we create around them, our sound creations will serve as the pretext for a three-way dialogue exploring our relationship to the sound of living things in connection with our practices. An ethical issue, an experimental and measurement tool, a narrative device, a sensory experience—examining this through the notion of resonance will highlight the richness of the perceptions associated with it.

Through our situated knowledge of the subject, we will demonstrate how transformations in perception have emerged from our respective explorations. A dialogue thus unfolds, not only in relation to the sound of living things but also by questioning the connections that can be forged between different research practices.