78 Domestic Disputes, Don't Tell Susan: Scenes From Firearm Safety Monitors, 0-160 Decibels
What are the implications of creating cities with senses?
A whisper: 30dB
A conversation: 65dB
A lawn mower: 100dB
A gunshot: 160dB
In the race to become the ‘smartest city,’ Washington D.C. and others around the world have installed gunshot detection sensors to automatically alert law enforcement. Although the sensors have been successful in mobilizing police officers and heightening sense of security among citizens, there have also been unintended deployments and reports of misuse. The microphones have overheard conversations and mis-interpreted fireworks and backfiring cars as gunshots. This new infrastructural “sense” was implemented to listen for occurrences of violence but questions remain as to how it could be misused, misinterpreted, or appropriated in the future.
Scenes From Firearm Safety Monitors examines the collection and interpretation of city data through an installation that divides the city into decibel ranges. In collaboration with Gerardo Guerrero, Marcus Guttenplan, and Zoe Padgett Scenes from Firearm Safety Monitors is a video that explores life in a city with senses. Through the lens of a firearm detection system, the project imagines an automated network that parses city life by decibel range. Unable to add context, the algorithm driven system relies on a human workers, each assigned to specific decibel ranges, to interpret and translate, adding the context back in. What is life like at each decibel range? What is left out, misinterpreted, gathered, and saved by these new workers?
After surveying a range of sensing technologies we became most inspired by the gunshot sensor because we felt it best summarized the aims of the 'smart cities' - while the sensor can detect a gunshot, telling police when and where, the damage has already been done.
78 Domestic Disputes, Don't Tell Susan: Scenes from Firearm Safety Monitors, 0-160 Decibles from Jenny Rodenhouse on Vimeo.
Process
We wanted the viewer to focus on the audio as much as possible, placing them in the shoes of each audio interpreter. We decided to shoot from behind as a way to build the story. First the viewer doesn't see much, helping them focus on the audio. Once they understood each room and each decibel range, we wanted to add a human element to the story. Using the notebooks, we wanted to hint to the misuse of the system but not in a sinister way. Playing with the banality of work, we thought these characters would be incredibly bored after a while. Eventually they start to make their own interpretations, their own collection, their own record of the city.
KK Barrett Lecture
K.K. Barrett gave a lecture at MDP. He spoke about how in the movie Her he didn't want to show any cars, because he didn't want to have that be in the conversation. He made me realize what you leave out of the frame is just as important as what you put in the frame.
Our team made a set adjustment right before shooting to make the scenes just about the person, the tangled wires, and the audio. It helped us focus on the most important aspects of our story.
Installation for Open City / Art City Festival
We will be exhibiting this project for the Open City / Art City Festival on October 3-4th in San Fransisco!
The installation allows visitors/ listeners to sift through sounds and gather information. Each listening booth accesses a decibel range from a remote microphone array located in San Francisco.
The project offers listeners the opportunity to experience fragments of a scene anonymously. Each listener documents what they hear, creating a log of interpretations and speculations. Is the remote microphone telling the truth? The lack of visual details requires the listener to imagine the scene, based on particular noises or conversations, conjuring fictional scenarios and urban landscapes. Each log will constitute a live feed and comparative record of a “smart city” narrated through multiple lenses and interpretations.
Featured
Exhibited at Open City / Art City Festival October 3rd in San Francisco.
Lab Inquiry: Sensored Stories
Instructor: Tim Durfee
Created With: Final Cut and Nikon 60D