Feel The Noise

I should warn you straight out and say that this is more of a rambling muse than a tidy linear post. If you're ok with that then please continue, if not seek coherence elsewhere. This project from the Behance Network crystallized something I've been thinking about a lot this week. Noise. I've been working all week in Amsterdam. Lovely, quiet Amsterdam. The precedence given to pedal power not only removes cars from the roads it also allows the sounds of humanity to flourish: laughter, conversation, coughs, gentle self-reflexive wonderings. The sheer tyranny of noise in London negates al but the most forceful and aggressive voices. Neurotic buses treat us like amnesiac goldfish: constantly reminding us which bus we're on and where we are. I've also been thinking about visual noise - I'm working on a brief for Russia and the CIS, the media equivalent of a neon migraine, and how it compares to the wonderful yet eerie empty billboard sites in Sao Paolo. The comments that sit alongside Flickr group shots of the sites use adjectives like 'clean' 'peace' and 'beauty'. Over-exposure to noise, or rather people's desire for quiet is the largest challenge that traditional advertising industry will have in the future. In a world where the consumer can completely control all of the information they want to see, traditional advertising just doesn't work. New technologies are bringer us closer and closer to this. It's a when not an if, and the when is soon:

   

Comments

[Kevan]

This article from a few weeks ago stuck with me; how the overloaded sensory input of modern cities is really bad for some parts of your savannah brain, but also a useful, fizzing source of creative juxtaposition. I've been walking a little differently and trying to exploit it.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/04/how_the_city_hurts_your_brain/

Your line about forceful voices is a good one, and much, much worse news for birdsong.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/wildlife.animalbehaviour

[Clare Townhill]

Thanks very much for adding to this Kevan. The energizing and sapping energy of city life is a particular interest of mine, particularly when it intersects with design and technology. I'll try a different walking approach and see how it feels too. Feel free to post things here, or if you post them on a blog of your own I'll link back to you.
Clare