Georgios Varoutsos  

“Window Ledge” – Audio

Ireland

“There is no longer any days of the week, only Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Each morning and night falls under the same routine of opening and closing the living rooms blinds, seeing what each day of the lockdown will bring to my window. It has been an ever-lasting loop of cars, pedestrians, wildlife, and Belfast’s overpowering wind with the chance of rain. This is my source of natural daily entertainment. While there is the opportunity to go for a daily exercise, most of my time is spent by the window. Each day hoping humanity will overcome COVID-19.

As a sonic artist who explores various site-specific soundscapes, this lockdown has presented an opportunity to explore a ‘WindowScape’. Listening and hearing to my immediate location and connection to the real world. It also questions what changes during a lockdown, naturally I live in front a school. As they have shut down, there are no more school children wandering about. The pieces explore natural field recording, creative design, and critical listening to one’s environment. However, what else is noticeable?

I invite you to sit and listen in front of your own window and ask yourself what sounds do you notice?”

Georgios Varoutsos (b.1991) is a sonic artist from Montreal, Canada. He is currently completing his Ph.D. studies in Music at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has graduated with a Master’s in Research, Pass with Distinction, in Arts & Humanities with a focus in Sonic Arts at Queen’s University Belfast. He has also completed a BFA with Distinction in Electroacoustic Studies and a BA in Anthropology, both from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

For more information about the artist, check out: www.georgiosvaroutsos.com