Listening to a sculpture park
My inspiration to buy a field recorder can be traced back to the moment I saw Beverly Pepper’s, Paraclete sculpture at Art Omi five years ago.
The steel structure bellows deep, rich tones from the slightest tap. Once inside the pyramid, it’s irregular shape warps any sound you make. The tight, resonant reverberations evolve as often as you move your ears.
A rush of ideas and sonic possibilities came upon me. I pictured myself with a portable recorder, exploring unusual spaces, and experimenting with the unique sound characteristics within. I learned from this missed opportunity by purchasing a handheld Zoom recorder when I got home.
Fast forward five years. My brother Derek just got a new Zoom recorder in an unrelated purchase of his own. It came on our hike last week.
This week, we learned Art Omi is open despite the pandemic (thanks for this info to Chelsea, who also planned my first trip to the park). A walk through the sculpture park sounded like a nice break from the trails.
It wasn’t until this moment that I made the full circle realization that Omi was the last place I went without a Zoom recorder and one of the first Derek went with his.
Derek and I collecting a few sound samples to future use.
