This installation consists of a number of small, microprocessor controlled machines which make sound by tapping on the architectural surfaces to which they are attached. These sounds overlay the existing soundscape of this institutional space, and draw attention to its properties. At the same time, the work effects an actual change in the aural properties of the space and imbues it with new affective qualities. This work intends to problematize the unstated or unquestioned assumptions around this public space. How are the perceptible structures in this space arranged, and why is this taken as “natural” by its inhabitants?
Exhibited at Make/Shift exhibition, Artlab, University of Western Ontario, Sep 20 – Oct 4, 2012.
The installation can make people nervous even when making no sound at all (the whole airport was evacuated here not long ago just because somebody forgot a suitcase in the toilet)
Yes, you’re right, I have to be very careful where I install these works, as it could result in this sort of thing happening. At the moment, they are installed in the large foyer space of the Department of Visual Arts, so people understand that they are part of an art installation.