Noise Annoys 1992

Summary

This poster by Sonia Kretschmar from 1992 was part of a series commissioned by the City of Melbourne that explored environmental themes.

"Kretschmar took noise pollution as a topic, and, with a tight deadline, set about composing an image of a woman behind a window, peering out as aggressive mechanical and machine sounds swirl around her. An enormous lawnmower and a powered-up speedboat are prominent, and claustrophobic text encircles the scene: ‘where are you going? what are you doing? around + around + this buzzing noise inside my head won’t go away and I can’t sleep anymore – oh for some peace + quiet’. Redemption might be close, though, with the melody of a blackbird infiltrating the scene in the bottom right corner.

In keeping with the environmental theme, the poster was printed on paper recycled from the waste of sugar production and using environmentally friendly inks. Subsequently, Kretschmar’s work was one of a contingent of entries sent to then newly established Chaumont International Poster Festival in France. Media coverage of the event was favourable, with an article later appearing in the renowned American music and popular culture magazine Rolling Stone. Michel Bouvet, president of the French design association Syndicat National des Graphistes, noted Australian entries blended different visual styles and demonstrated a rawer, more spontaneous sensibility, some with fluorescent shades, claiming, ‘it’s very, very fresh! ... there is so much going on! The colours and symbols are so different to anything we would use!" (1) - Sean Lynch, 'Desire Lines' catalogue essay

(1) Michel Bouvet, in Julia Church and Cliff Smyth, ‘Hot Off the Press’, Rolling Stone (Aust. edn), no. 487, September 1993, pp. 78–79