I have started my first project in relation to The Domestic Soundscape. The project is called Washing-Up and begins with a meal and a washing-up exchange that took place last week.

The format for making recordings goes like this:

• Arrange time and date for washing-up and meal exchange to take place*
• Buy ingredients and visit the person who is going to be washing-up in their own home.
• Cook food for them.
• Record the sound of the dishes being washed up afterwards, with their comments and insights on the process if they wish to include these.
• Document in various forms, replicating each form of documentation for every individual instance of washing-up.

It is important to me that this form is not deviated from while I am constructing this project; thus I will always cook a meal wherever I go, the dishes will always be washed up, and at the end, hopefully my recordings will provide some basis for comparison.

Each recording will begin at the beginning of the washing-up process and end at the end, and I shall document in each instance what comprises the beginning and the end of the activity.

In this first recording, the meal I prepared was a rabbit stew which I made according to a Jamie Oliver recipe. The washing-up was done quite late in the evening, after a couple of beers and when we were both thoroughly satisfied by the nourishing winter fare.

This recording begins with the filling of the sink in readiness for washing-up and ends with the surrounding surfaces being wiped clean.

This is the first form of documentation for this recording; others will follow as the project develops.

*the reason for the meal is firstly to generate washing-up and secondly to provide payment in kind for the washing-up recording that I gain from the exchange. I also think the meal contextualises the washing-up, locating it within everyday routines and also aligning this project in some way to friendship, community and sharing.