The Feels

The Feels uses sound to express ecological sorrow, while also acknowledging that there is still hope in the world, and that we all have a part to play no matter how small. We often find ourselves in a constant cycle of feeling hopeful and then hopeless many times a day, as news and information enters our lives and affects our emotions. Alison’s work often begins with a poem, and The Feels (further below) expresses this cycle.

The work has been exhibited at Salmon Arm Arts Centre and as part of Arts of Social Change in Kelowna, BC and most recently as part of the Moral Panic exhibit at Lake Country Art Gallery.

Listen to a sample composition of The Feels each interaction brings the potential for a differing series and overlapping of sounds.

Our existence on Earth will not continue,  if we are not able to recognize as a collective that our individual actions contribute to the overall experience we are having. We all have a part to play, no matter how small. Incrementally changes build, if we preserve our forests and old growth, biodiversity can rebuild, if we consciously consume less, our resources and water can flourish again. Each small act builds and grows, the Earth will survive without us, but we cannot survive if we do not change our actions and ways of knowing and doing. The Feels is a wake up! There are sounds that are difficult to listen to, sounds that are playful, and those from nature, the more than humans. Each element of the world around us has feelings and emotion, as the trees are slain hear the pain released, as the water flows it tells a story, where has it been, where will it go. If we are still enough, we can Feel them, we can hear them. But first we have to be still. 

Alison encourages visitors to interact and move by The Feels, walk away and come back, each time a new combination of sounds will arise, unique. Close your eyes, do you hear differently? Can you be still on the Earth?  What will you hear? Find a space on the, try listening and feeling.

The work is presented as a luminescent box, and the lock on the box says “FEELS”. Visitors will find that their movements start different sounds, which can be individual or may merge bringing sounds together and overlaying. The box is mysterious, elusive and vague, it shines and calls curiosity of viewers to examine. You reflect back at you, your reactions, your movements are mirrored and distorted.

A low dull beep is the longest sound that movement triggers - this is the sound of Morse Code and is a sound representation of the poem.

There are 15 sounds overall that can be activated each representing a portion(s) of the poem. By allowing the sounds to overlay joy and sorrow can exist in the same moment, or be considered individually. Recordings were made by Alison.  Still moments of water lapping on the shore, the sound of trees hacked by chainsaws and chipped, sliding down a hill on a sledge, rain on water, crying, laughter at the beach, electric guitar, people entering a frozen lake. Sounds like old photographs can spark emotions and memories, create connection.

Through the advent of the pandemic the intent and interactive nature of The Feels changed. Originally meant to be an experience where visitors could use a device from the gallery to experience sound as they travelled through the space, Alison came to realize that this would not be possible during a pandemic, to many touch points (and sanitizing). As Alison’s creative process evolved for this project, she looked at ways to interact with the art and use our bodies to activate the work. She explored using motion sensors, cameras and machine learning. Building her knowledge of coding and utilizing the strong online community of coders and programmers who share their ideas and creations.

The Feels

Joy Radiates. Smile,

Feel The Spark,

Dancing Light,

Luminescent Light,

Eyes lower, close,

Fade to Black,

Water, gentle,

Flow,

Torrent rising,

Thunderous,

Murderous,

Trees,

Hearts Breaking,

Sorrow, Pain,

Land will heal, 

Hope begins,

Joy Radiates. Smile.

By learning from what was available Alison was able to pull together a system that would be interactive and run independently on a Raspberry Pi computer, camera and speakers, housed in a plastic wrapped box. The Feels is operated using an html file, made using Scratch 3. The sound was recorded and edited using Audacity.