Visual Communication
Interactive Media
Nature Surround
Branding / Experience / Installation / Research / Final Year Project
Nature Surround is a two-part experience that invites urbanites to listen mindfully to their natural soundscapes, encouraging them to reflect on and reconnect their relationship with nature.
Awareness + Immersion = Connection
Instagram: Nature Surround IG
Audio guide: Flavours of the Sun
Copyright @ ashleu.work 2022
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Audition,
Premiere Pro, & Various materials
2022
Nature Surround Outcomes
In urban cities like Singapore, there is a clear divide between humans and nature. How can we foster inclusion with nature for individuals who have lived in urban spaces their whole lives?
To better understand the relationship between humans and nature (as well as their acoustic environment), I conducted a survey with 47 participants to gain different views and perspectives.
Survey Findings (Connection with nature)
Literature Reading (Inclusion with Nature)
There are many measures and initiatives in Singapore that encourage Singaporeans to be greener citizens like the 3 Rs program. However, there are still many reasons why it's hard for them to adopt these practices (e.g. knowing which plastic to recycle, or reducing takeaway packages due to inconvenience).
According to Schultz, in order for one to care for and commit themselves to protecting nature, they must first connect with it, but how?
As seen in the survey findings, people usually connect with nature through visuals. With nature, we don't just register the presence of nature in our brains through our eyes. We also connect with it through our sense of hearing, touch, and smell.
When in places of nature, sometimes we know the existence of nature even before we see them. That is because we use our ears to listen to their calls and their movement. We don't have to see nature to know that it's there. Sometimes, we just need to slow down, keep quiet, and listen.
Thus, in my project, I hope to reconnect Young Singaporeans who have grown up in urban environments back with nature by raising their awareness of their natural soundscapes.
Data collection: I’ve recorded sounds of nature using my zoom h5 audio recorder and video recordings on my camcorder for the first half of my FYP at different places such as Jurong Central Park, Jurong Lake Gardens, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Hindhede Nature Park, Dairy Farm Nature Park, MacRitchie Reservoir, Botanic Gardens, Pulau Ubin, and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.
While exploring these places, I also observed how parkgoers behave in places in nature, and what types of activities they engage in when they're there.
Thus, through these field trips and observations, there will be 2 parts to Nature Surround. Firstly, to raise awareness of the sounds around them through an installation in an indoor space where senses can be muted and participants can just focus on listening. The audio guide would be the second part to learn how to experience and immerse themselves in nature.
Branding
Nature Surround Logo
The Nature Surround logo follows the shape of an Oriental Magpie Robin’s call shown on a spectrogram.
Awareness
Nature Surround Audio Installation
The Nature Surround audio installation invites the listener to focus on their aural awareness of the natural soundscapes around them, building appreciation for the sounds that often go unnoticed.
Each side of the wall has a different sound from nature: birds, water, and insects. When seated in the center, the participant is able to hear all sounds blended together just like how the actual environment is. When walking around, they are able to listen to each group of sounds when standing next to it. Speakers are concealed and visuals are minimalized so that the participant can focus on the sounds around them, or relax in this space.
Immersion
Nature Surround Audio Guide – Flavours of the Sun
The Nature Surround audio guide – Flavours of the Sun is a sensory audio guide for participants to rethink, reflect, and reconnect their relationship with nature.
From all my field trips, there was a common factor that made me feel immersed in nature, and that was engaging all my senses:
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TOUCH: by feeling the coolness of the forest, the warmth of the sun
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SMELL: smelling the trees, rain
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SIGHT: seeing insects like ants, or larger animals like monkeys
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SOUND: listening to birdcalls, and my own breath
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MIND: lastly, instead of taste, stimulating my mind by thinking, or not thinking, which slows down my mind to be present and engaged in all my senses at the moment.
Thus, my sound walk would be an audio guide that serves as a starting point for them to listen to and appreciate nature. It would include a reconstruction of the sounds that I've recorded previously and the theme would be engaging your 5 senses through various actions at a nature park near you.
Check out the audio guide here: Flavours of the Sun Website
Documentation
Nature Surround Photobook
The Nature Surround photobook is a compilation of the screen captures of the videos taken on my camcorder during all of my field trips. It consists of 23 different animals that I've managed to capture during my trips. It serves as a visual aid for participants to learn about the different animals we have in Singapore.
To build the visuals of my project, I used the keywords "Texture" and "Layers" as there are many layers of sound that make up the natural soundscape.