Serrof by Fletina

This past summer I was working part-time as the ''pool tester'' for a swimming pool in my local area. The job entailed going into the building's boiler room twice a day, working with various chemicals, testing the chlorine levels in the water and checking that all the pumps, tanks, gauges, valves and mechanical apparatus was all in good safe running order. Then at the end of the night I would be responsible for removing the mechanical cover for the swimming pool, inspecting the water, and eventually putting the cover back on...
One day in the boiler room, I was totally struck and mesmerized by both the ambient room tone in there, as well as the sounds and noises of all the various equipment pumping away - the hissing machinery, the deep gurgling of the water/acid tanks, the chugging of the circulation pumps, the ticking of the valves, the creaking of the pipes, the humming of the fluorescent lights, etc...
Creative inspiration continued to churn away inside me while I was inspecting the swimming pool at the end of my shift. I felt that the sound of the swimming pool was both soothing and rather haunting at the same time - the soft gurgle and sloshing of the water, the spillage being sucked through the drain grills, the drone of the heating system, the huge reverberations of the high-ceilinged room, the mysterious echoes and the squeal of the mechanical pool cover coming down...
Thus the idea for this project began. That night I took two sound recorders and a couple of contact microphones and placed them in the boiler room and the swimming pool itself. I wanted to try and capture the sound and atmosphere of these two locations when no one was around. Once captured, I collaged these recordings into a couple of abstract sound works that hopefully paint some vivid images of what it feels like to be working in this strange, lonely and sometimes creepy indoor environment.

(Fletina, 16 November 2023)

a thematic ltd series focusing primarily on phonographies reflecting the spirit of a specific place crowded with memories, its aura & resonances and our intimate interaction with it…

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