Moving to Tampa, Florida from rural Maine meant adjusting to life in a city, on a busy college campus. I was struck with the omnipresence of machine and anthropocene noise here, -- traffic, construction, airplanes, AC units. Its inescapability, competing with natural sound, presented a question: what sounds do we hear without noticing them, and what are the levels of sound versus noise in a given area? In response to these questions, I’ve been walking and documenting the sounds I hear and their comparative noise levels on the USF college campus. This practice generated an index of quiet and loud spaces with notes on sounds, decibel levels, and relative solitude or public exposure. The sites can be accessed by the public with an available paper map, or online. The work contemplates what we hear where we are, and how much human sounds conflict or cooperate with the environment they’re in.
Installation View. 4x6 inkjet photos of sites, DBa meter, QR code to access the google maps list, folded pamphlets with map and notes made at the sites, and 36x48 wall map.