As a sonic example, I picked the video, where just based on the visual part, we can not ostensibly see anything really special. But if we turn on the sound of the video, we can hear the clapping of people, which pay the tribute to all the essential workers, especially medical workers in New York City during the Corona-virus pandemic. I think that even the small, personal gadget like is headsets and listening to some music could manipulate all perception of walking down the street and steal from us such a surreal moment when all the people were connected by the current situation and were captured in the presence. Probably each of us, who heard that clapping, realized that we are all here for each other and we felt the connection with strangers, which is so rare nowadays. It was a scary time, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, when nobody knew what is going to happen next. But at that time, we were all together showing and sharing compassion, humbleness, and appreciation to those, who were risking their own life every single day. This is probably an extreme example of the possible manipulation of the moment by the different sounds coming into our ears. But maybe it is a good example to better realize, how differently we can see the world by spacing out from the presence by using modern technology in general.

7PM Clapping for NYC Essential Workers at Mount Sinai Hospital (April 7, 2020)

FDNY and New Yorkers at the Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens clap for essential workers during the Coronavirus Pandemic 2020. Filmed April 7, 2020 at 7:00PM Su…