Soundwalk

For my sound walk, I decided to just walk around randomly and observe what I heard. Some of the things I heard included the wind, which was steady and smooth. I heard the purring of car engines and the friction of tires against the asphalt. The engine was very rough and abrupt, while the tires sounded smooth, but also sort of like they were ripping at the road, as if a cat was continually being removed from a couch where their claws were just digging in. The leaves ruffled, often hitting the ground or each other, making short ripping sounds, or prolonged scratching along the concrete, which was rather unpleasant. I walked by a harbor near my home, and I heard the waves, soft and smooth and flowing, much like the water moved. The cars remained part of the background, so together they sounded almost like tires pushing through a decently sized puddle, smooth, flowing, the friction ignored. Near the harbor was the train station, and a train came along, its metal force coming to a slow halt. I walked beneath the train platform, to hear the clacking of the wheels on the rails, loud and repetitive, and then faded into the wind. I walked along into the shopping district, where the tremor of car engines and the clamor of people’s voices reigned in the afternoon air. Listening to a clamor of people is much like listening to water, as it has an odd way of keeping consistent with itself, and the tapping of shoes was faded, yet present.

Hunter Skywalk from Scott Fleisher on Vimeo.

Artist Statement

I like cartoons. Cartoons can do anything.

When I look at the world, it is nothing like a cartoon, yet cartoons have the ability to emulate it. I wondered how it could just create anything, and then just roll with it. Characters can have over-the-top personalities or very down-to-earth realistic ones. Backgrounds can give off the feel of being in a real setting, or one that is too vibrant to exist outside itself. I think that cartoons are impressive in these ways, because they still find a way to relate itself to the world. I find myself able to sympathize with cartoon characters, curious about what it would be like to live in the fantasy world, wonder how even the most unrealistic cartoon can reflect meaning on the world around me. Cartoons can say and do whatever they want, and they have the freedom to explore any perspective, any trend, anything that pertains to people.

As I am, I’m not much of an “artist” as an “enthusiast.” I explore cartoons a lot in my free time, typically focusing on animated works. Although I have dabbled with drawing a little bit (and hope to get back to it), I mostly observe the way cartoons are crafted, looking at things like tone, mood, color shading, the way the characters are made, among other things, and over time I began to realize how cartoons showed me a lot of different things about the world, and forces me to recognize how vastly different everything and every person in the real world is, as well as highlight patterns and problems in relation to the way humans behave. As someone who focuses on humanity as a whole, my biggest goal as an artist is to try and show others the information that cartoons have shown me.