'Harmony in the Age of Noise' creates a buzz on the library roof

To composer and artist Bruce Odland, one of the main creative minds behind Tufts' planned library-roof exhibit, art and sound are tightly entwined. "We are lost in a sea of noise," he said on his official Web site.

It is no wonder, then, that the planned installation on the Tisch Library roof, called "Harmony in the Age of Noise," will explore the sounds that make up the Tufts environment and the ways they affect our daily lives.

The large-scale gazebo, which incorporates cutting-edge technology and an interactive interface, is set to be unveiled April 16 and will be up through May 15. But many people at Tufts are already involved in the project - and those involved say they're looking for students to participate.

What a wonderful sonic world

Tufts Professor of Anthropology and Project Coordinator David Guss explains the project as an exploration of the campus soundscape, something which he has focused on in-depth through one of the courses he teaches: "Architecture of Utopia and the American College Campus."

"As part of my work, I've been exploring place-making and a sense of place," Guss said. "Here, I'm talking about the sensory part of it, how people make deep attachments to place. The university is a specific type of environment where deep associations occur, not only to the people around ... but to the place itself."

In a world full of constant noise, the campus environment offers a more peaceful place - one that creates a sense of attachment and community.

"You're away from the sort of sonic dystopia that most of us live in," Guss said. "The university creates a very different type of space, like a small village green from the 17th or 18th century ... there's no drive-through traffic on the quad. It's a privileged type of space," Guss said.

Collaborating with Odland added another dimension to the work. Odland is also involved in making people more aware of their environment, and he expressed a specific concern with the auditory world and its relation to visual experience.

Though he could see the campus Guss described as an "idealized park-like landscape to encourage bonding and learning," he also heard a great deal of "strange industrial hums everywhere" which interfered with this notion of utopican space.

"I came up with the idea of mapping the campus and surroundings psycho-acoustically, noting the friction between the ear and eye, and the rest all came out of that first idea," Odland said. "In fact, if you look at any modern industrialized environment and then close your eyes, you will be shocked at what you hear and how it does not go with your visuals. We as modern people are pretty disconnected with what we hear."

An enthusiastic response

Guss is extremely impressed and encouraged by the response generated by the Tufts community. Though the project is rather different and an enormous undertaking, it received immediate enthusiasm from the deans, staff and students involved, and all expenses for the piece are being carried by the university.

"It's to Tufts' credit that there is this spirit of adventure and thinking outside the box and receptivity to these types of projects. I think this'll be really unique," he said. Guss presented the project to Tufts expecting at least a few raised eyebrows and questions, but everyone approached was receptive and eager to work on the piece.

"Bob Sternberg, dean of Arts & Sciences, said, 'This is exactly the kind of thing we should be doing' [when we approached him about it]," Guss said.

Such support is necessary for a project as involved as "Harmony in the Age of Noise," which includes a number of new technologies developed specifically for the piece.

All of this has been done in an extremely short time frame. "They thought we were doing it next April, but when we said we wanted to do it this year, they were in a bit of disbelief. It's tough, but there's a lot of excitement and energy involved and a lot of people working on it. There's a lot of discussion about interdisciplinary work at Tufts, and this really is an interdisciplinary project in which we're all working together to make something happen," Guss said.

Collaboration and the community effort

"Harmony in the Age of Noise" is an extremely collaborative project, bringing in various artists as well as groups and individuals in the Tufts community. The Office of the Provost, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Tisch College, University Information Technology and a variety of academic departments are all playing an essential role in the building of the roof installation.

Students and staff are participating in the actual construction of the gazebo and the technology within it. Several engineering students from a class taught by Lecturer of Music Paul Lehrman have worked closely with Odland and helped create the innovative technology needed to make the sound dial inside the piece function.

The actual gazebo is being built by an Experimental College class at Tufts in collaboration with New York City-based sculptor Mark McNamara. The class, "Art for Social Change," is taught by Mindy Nierenberg. According to Odland, the students are taking part in an interactive listening process to prepare for the project and to open their minds to the sounds of the environment rather than just the visuals.

"[They are] first doing some ear yoga and exercises to wake up their hearing. You know, humans have really sophisticated hearing gear installed in our heads, and it works just fine once you break the stranglehold of the eyes on our senses. Then they'll go out to make listening journals that deconstruct the sonic atmospheres of the campus. After some dedicated listening and going out in a small posse with digital tape recorders to capture their observations, image generators will document the results," Odland said.