I have three new recordings of Washing up, each of which has identified further issues/areas of interest.

Firstly, the means of recording Washing up has to become more responsive to the circumstances of Washing up. Washing up happens when people are ready, when they can’t bear the sight of dirty dishes any longer, when they wish to prepare the kitchen for a spot of cooking etc. and imposing anything artistically ‘formal’ on the conditions of Washing up seems to contradict my wish to document the very banality, the very everyday-ness of the task.

Secondly, I’m realising how much materials and ambient sound vary the sonic qualities of each recording. I think the semiotics of each recording – the accent of the person speaking in the recording, the views they present on the task of Washing up and so on, also massively define the quality/texture of the recording. The images I create of other people’s sinks are also quite strong in terms of their relationship to washing up sounds. This is an image that goes with Washing up recording #5 \_/*:

…which has very different visual connotations to this photo, which accompanies Washing up recording #4 \_/*:

Thirdly, I’m realising that recording dishwashers presents a more complex recording task than Washing up, because the section that involves our human interaction with the job is really only the loading and unloading, but the actual washing of the dishes happens without any human presence. One of the recordings reflects on the dilemmas of recording a dishwasher at work and I am uncertain as to how I will deal with dishwashers in future recordings.

Fourthly, I find I’m still investigating the best way to translate these recordings and the attendant reading I’m doing, into this blog. It’s an ongoing exploration; how can I use the blog itself as a destination or location for artwork? And what possibilites exist for interactive, web-based projects relating to these sound-recordings? An ongoing questioning process for me.

Fifthly, I’m realising more and more the extent to which appliance define the Domestic Soundscape. This puts me in mind of Lise Lefebvre’s work, in which domestic appliances are covered in felt to provide both sound-insulation and the opportunity to contemplate the objects associated with domestic maintenance outside of their noisy, sometimes intrusive, sonic aspect.