I didn’t get a chance to chat with my classmates about the proposals so I’m doing it alone to consider which one got chosen. This I hope will also give me insight into the process of a professional sound installation proposal and the depth it takes to be successful.
Firstly, Burchell Songsmith. I found Burchell’s proposal to be very in-depth. For a proposal, I can understand why this is important. She did a great job at explaining her idea, and also the reason why she thinks her idea is good for the commission. She also displays a great level of communication for the proposal and connects the community with their sonic environment. Burchell also has created the three main locations she wishes to engage within her submission and the reasons why she thinks it’s important, with a short history lesson on each section. She weighs in the positives and negatives of each situation and what her piece can do for each area. She also in contrast prepares some backup locations if the first three are not able to receive permission from the council to use. As well as this, she explains her process. Going in-depth about how she will create the sonic works that will go into her songsmiths and the way she will create them. She also presented an accurate professional cost list which explains the cost of the entire process, as well as a very organised calendar of the commission and how it will operate. I’m very impressed.
Secondly, Berger – Bangor Searches for a Microphone. The submission from Berger was no way near as good as the first presented. It still held all the information needed to understand what the idea was and where it would be positioned. But it lacked the critical analysis to really take it further an extra level and help the reader understand why it’s important to have this in the city, why is it going to be beneficial? How does this fit the brief and what are the benefits and negatives of this proposal? It didn’t create a back up which the first one did, which I feel is important. Installations can receive problems during the creation and if a backup plan isn’t present things can go terribly wrong. It didn’t feel as dedicated and because of this, I am guessing that the first proposal won the commission.