Antala-iperra / Weather

A video piece I was commissioned to develop the sound design for has just completed its final week of showing at the Araluen Art Centre in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). It was displayed as part of the group exhibition, Clay On Country, developed by Artback NT.

The work, produced by Hermannsburg Potters, with artwork by their amazing artists, is titled Antala-iperra. Western Arranda for Weather. Describing the work was put best by Hermannsburg Potters themselves:

The work provides a glimpse into the artists’ profound knowledge of and connection to Country as they depict Western Aranda life and landscapes during eturna (hot season) and lhurrpa (cold season)

The entire piece runs just shy of 7 minutes. It features large amounts of native flora and fauna, the majority of which, captured specifically for this project.

It was probably my most challenging sound design project to date as the sound design is the only audio featured within the video. No musical composition or voiceover to hide behind. Every scenery imagined by the artists had to have its sound recreated. Macro sound effects like the crawling of a caterpillar or the jerky walk of the thorny devil had to be imagined and created from scratch.

A ridiculous rain-making apparatus for creating some finer rain details.

There is also a large gap in sound design libraries of people who are interested in recording bird calls and documenting them thoroughly. I learnt that there are amazing databases for bird watching with hours upon hours of recorded bird calls, but would take weeks to process any request for media. For any folks looking for specific bird calls, I recommend eBird.org. Just allow time for them to process your request as this isn’t part of their core business.

Excerpt from Antala-iperra.

It was such a privilege to be involved in a project with the Hemannsburg Potters and its always a please to work with and see the animations of Nelson Armstrong.

For people not based in Mparntwe, I’ve been told that the piece with also be displayed online for a short period as part of the 2022 Desert Mob Symposium.

Edit 11/09/22: This work is currently being show online as part of Desert Mob’s Art Centres on Screen (link).