Five Sound Questions to Anna Friz

Canadian sound artist Anna Friz works with radio as main source and medium in most of her work, consisting of radio for broadcast, installations and performances.  

 

Listening to some of the works on her MySpace page we hear the mysterious noises between radio channels, some words in between, Russian maybe, and it feels like we are scanning the sky for audible waves. 

 

Read more about Anna Friz and her work on her website www.nicelittlestatic.com.

 

1. What sound from your childhood made the most impression on you?

The crinkle of cellophane paper. The radio heard from another room. The pump organ at my great-aunt’s house. I still like to submerge my ears below the water in the bathtub to hear the sound of my pulse and the internal rushes of blood and activity in my body. 

2. How do you listen to the world around you?

Broadly. In my daily routine, I enjoy noticing what’s in the air. I’m guilty of eavesdropping on people’s conversations when I’m on the streetcar. But I can also become very preoccupied with my thoughts, at which point I hear only drones and don’t really understand what people are saying around me. I also really like listening to inter frequency sounds on short wave at night—it’s a really beautiful and mysterious landscape, with little islands of audible stations.

3. Which place in the world do you favour for its sound?

The rainforest on the southwest coast of Canada. The huge trees creak, the ravens croak, everything drips and rustles and squelches around, and the ocean is a distant roar. Meanwhile all my body sounds are muffled and minute in comparison; my steps are quiet on the buoyant ground, and my breath disappears as soon as it’s out of my mouth.

4. How could we make sound improve our lives?

Stop using cheap little ear buds, especially when cycling.

 

5. What sound would you like to wake up to?

See #3. Failing that, the sounds of weather (wind, thunder) are always an exhilarating way to start the day.

Also read the answers of other artists in the Five Sound Questions section.

Comments

[Michael]

I'm guilty of wearing 'cheap little ear buds' while cycling and I'm curious if Anna has a suggestion for an alternative option (expensive little ear buds? Audiophile cans?) or advises forgoing headphones entirely and listening instead to the environmental sound?

[Anna]

Hi Michael, Those little cheap earbuds are not doing anyone's ears any favours, and I do believe in forgoing headphones altogether when cycling-- just seems like unnecessary courting of danger. Besides the safety aspect, part of being out in the world and not in the bubble of a car is to hear the spatiality of unpredictable sound. But I'm a bit of a weirdo that way, in that I hate wearing headphones when I'm out in public whether I'm cycling or not.

[Michael]

Hi Anna, Thank you for responding to my query. Safety aside, your point about the 'spatiality of unpredictable sound' is well-made. With earbuds on I am cocooned in my own 'innerspace' with it's artificially created audio space, largely rythmic (and predictable) patterns and limited range of frequencies -- whereas without earbuds I am more aware of myself moving through physical space (and audio space) in part I'm sure because of the difference in audio spatial cues.