Sensory Ethnography

3 Sensory Ethnographies.

I will write out a sensory ethnography for each of my three chosen actions
Using these senses:

Sight

Smell

Sound

Touch

Taste

Poetic Description
An interest of mine that hasn't really led me anywhere is to try to write songs or poetry about anything of interest.
Using my sensory ethnography' as inspiration this is what I will attempt to do.

1 Playing Guitar
There are many ways to play guitar, I want to focus on finger picking on my accoustic guitar, especially the movements of the picking hand.


Guitar/Sight
I can see the strings vibrate as they are played. I'm conscious of how I look and my body look whilst playing. I sometimes close my eyes and forget sight.

Guitar/Smell
A mixture of the wood of the guitar, sweating calussed hands, metal coils. Wherever I may be.

Guitar/Sound
Light notes that fade into nothingness, emotive

Guitar/Touch
I can feel each of the strings as I pluck them, each string has a different weight to it. Occasionally I feel the wood of the guitars body. The scratchy top strings. The light bottom strings. The impact of the strings which blisters calluses my thumb and fingers

Guitar/Taste
There is an imagined taste of the things I touch, a woody taste whenever the body is rubbed, A metallic, oiled or rusted taste when feeling the top strings,
no taste when feeling the nylon

Creative Writing

Twisting and turning.
Head full of nails.
Feeding on coils.
Soft?
Loud?

Picking at twine.
Blistering me.
Colour my fingers in calluses.

My fingers are like giraffes.
Each joint, each knuckle, a cervical vertebra.
Fingers feed on guitar strings like a ruminant feeding on foliage.
Grasping and then plucking.
Each bite bringing satisfaction.

2 Driving Scooter
Driving a motorbike/scooter is a lot different to driving a car, instead of turning a wheel you must lean your body from side to side. Also, pulling the throttle instead of putting your foot down on an accelerator is an interesting experience.


Scooter/Sight
The sights of locations. The edges of my helmet. The globe of brightly lit area when driving at night.

Scooter/Smell
Depending on where I am driving and what I am driving past. I hold my breath as I drive past dead possums,

Scooter/Sound
The continual droning of the scooters engine is quickly forgotten when drving through serene rural areas or drowned out when driving through the city. Other sounds hold much interest.

Scooter/Touch
I grasp the handles and throttle with my hands. I am usually gloved and when I forget my knuckles freeze white. The cold attacks me, finding its way through my clothing.

Scooter/Taste
I breathe in long rushes of fresh air. the occasional fly. I restrict breathing to my nose when vehicles emmiting much gas or diesal are ahead of me. Dead possum tastes bad.

Creative Writing

Fall to the left but don't let go, fall to the right still holding on.

Pulling tight. Moving forward.The faster I go.
Air roars around me my chest inflates.
Breathing life? Breathing ice!
Bleach My knuckles. My face is white.

To shake the cold I must go faster
The faster I go the colder I get

Breathing life? Breath of death.
Decomposition taints my throat.
I pull ever tighter and grow ever colder.
Is this my life? Am I getting older?

3 Using a Wallet
Almost everyone has a wallet, our wallets contain a slice of our identity, and are imprinted with our daily movements. I want to focus on taking and putting back a card e.g. eftpos.


Wallet/Sight
A wallet. Stacks of cards. A bulge in my jeans pocket. Sometimes I can see all but the card I want. It is worn, it has an imprint of my character.

Wallet/Smell
Rubbed Leather. Plastic. Money. A piece of Christchurch.

Wallet/Sound
Jingling of keys and coins. Clip opening and closing.

Wallet/Touch
An automatic process I do without thinking. Feel a lump in my jeans pocket. My wallet contains many textures

Wallet/Taste
An imagined taste of the smooth leather.

Creative Writing

Heavy.
I am heavy but I am not rich.
Curious?
More of a reflection than a fruitful wish
Contents
Methods of unlocking. Change.
Heavy
Weighing me down. A reminder not a burden


Public Transport
Pull out, Scan, Stuff it in.
Grocery Shopping
Pull out, Swipe, Stuff it in.
Building Access
Pull out, Scan, Stuff it in.
Every day
Pull out, Use, stuff it back in.

Lost
Without you I cannot live my day
Need
Without you some things block my way
Have
In my pocket first thing every day