Dianne Ballon, sound artist Submitted photo
Sound artist Dianne Ballon will deliver her virtual presentation, “The Art of Sound: Recordings from the Coast of Maine” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11, at the Camden Public Library.
This program will take place on Zoom. To register and receive the link to attend visit the “What’s Happening” page at www.librarycamden.org. To experience the high fidelity of sound that will be presented, headphones or good quality speakers are highly recommended.
Ballon, of Portland, has been working in sound for over thirty-five years. She was awarded a Maine Artist Fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission. In lieu of returning to the Arctic where she has recorded sound, the award and the limitations from the pandemic gave her the opportunity to focus on her coastal sound series at home on the coast of Maine.
Through the sound work she has recorded and mixed over the past fellowship year, she will introduce listeners to the beauty and the richness of sound. She will share the stories behind the sounds, including the difficulties of field recording, recording the navigational buoys from the water, and the discovery of a “lost” sound.
Of her coastal sound series, Ballon writes, “The series includes my Boats Creaking at a Dock in Iceland, recorded in a tiny harbor in the northwestern fjords of Iceland. Each harbor has its own distinct sound. Rocked by the motion of water, the pull of the tide, and a variable touch of wind, the boats create a mesmerizing series of sounds. The sounds are introspective: both sharp and smooth, quiet and busy, rhythmic yet random and to me, achingly beautiful.”
Her sound works have aired on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. She was awarded a Maine Artist Fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission. Her coastal sound work was featured in Yankee magazine.
During her Artist-in-Residency at Shenandoah National Park, she created a sound portrait for the park. At the Goethe Institute, she presented her sound installation Musical Instrument Dreams. She produced audio for the award-winning national exhibition “The Marines and Tet: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War.” For an international radio art competition, she was awarded for her field recording of boats creaking at a dock in Iceland. She produces audio for Tactile Images, a company that creates fine art for museums that is accessible to the blind through touch and sound.
For over ten years, she was a member of the teaching and production staff at the National Audio Theatre Festivals. At the University of Maine at Augusta, she taught audio production and radio theatre. She taught many classes to artists, producers and podcasters. This includes: The Public Radio Exchange Podcast Garage, Harvard Sound Education conference, and at several Audubon societies for her field recordings on birds. Currently, she teaches audio production through the SALT Institute for Documentary Studies at Maine College of Art & Design.
For more about her work, visit: www.dianneballonsound.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
