George Trakas’ idea of community building already exists within his sculpture, Bay View Station, using open space that is not restrictive in any sense. This is shown with the combined use of metal and wood, one that is industrial and used in many modern-day sculptures, and the other, more embracing of its connections. When the individual is interacting with the sculpture, they do not focus on the sculpture itself but rather emotions that are brought up through that interaction from the views and sounds of the surrounding area. Not only does one hear the sound of people moving around the sculpture but also of the cars going by, the wind from Bellingham Bay, and sometimes even the sound of instruments being played in the music building. Given the unique composition of Bay View Station, the emphasis ultimately falls on the feelings of the individual who interacts with the sculpture.

Our intention with this video was to create an experience audio clip of the sounds one hears while sitting at Bay View Station. As the creator, Trakas’ intentions with his pieces are to focus on the environment around them rather than the pieces themselves. We created a recording that immerses the listener into the setting of the sculpture. Because sculptures are mainly associated with shape and form, we end up using our visual senses to experience them. In this project, we instead focused on a different sense: hearing, giving a different perspective than has been shown before. When it was built, Trakas had the resemblance of a piano in mind. There are four sections to the sculpture, symbolizing a treble clef and bass clef giving us the idea to record how the sculpture “sounds”. Thus creating the song of Bay View Station.

By Ashlin Perkins, Emmalynne Takada, and Olivia Pierce