The Tunnel (plz slow walking speed)

Element 3 involves the soundscape of a tunnel that runs underneath George Street and towards the UTS campus in Ultimo. The listener is initially placed outside the tunnel, in the loud and overwhelming soundscape of Broadway at night. Busses and trucks sprawl past as the full expanse of the city is in view. An overcast sky is animated by the movement of neon city lights. An escalator transports the listener into a tunnel where sound and light are equally obscured: the noise of traffic passing overhead is heavily filtered as the high frequencies of Broadway are abstracted and only low frequencies remain. In this context, the listener is placed at the low end of a frequency bandwidth. Much like the intricate architecture of Central Station, the tunnel is a liminal space in a literal sense: situated between the station and Ultimo, beneath George Street. For most, it is a temporary space; a space between the past and the present; a space attributed with no discernable meaning. This space, or lack of space, is what I have attempted to sonify, as the listener is lost within its deep expanses. The liminality of this setting is juxtaposed against the vibrance of advertisements and white light of supermarkets within the tunnel. This vibrance is characterised by the high-frequency sounds of bells, and the hyper-reality of the synthesiser.
This combination is jarring and disorienting: the brutalism of the tunnel, and the idealism of advertisement, and yet both often exist in unison; in atonal harmony. The listener is retracted from this unnerving soundscape, as they are drawn into the supermarket, where a purchase can be completed without conversation or interaction. This is classified in a rapid succession of high-frequency beeps, which result in a purchase. The listener is once again absorbed into the tunnel; into its deepest corners, and beyond the euphoria of the supermarket. Where One may struggle to escape.

It is important to note that this element (unlike previous elements) is immersed in hyper-reality, where sound is an exaggeration of reality.