Text
The Space In Between / Spiralling
Curved walls with 16 surface transducers mounted underneath their skins.
Multi-channel installation, 6:21 loop of spoken word and breath.
MFA Thesis
November 8 - 12, 2022
Studio 162, Rockport, ME
ABOUT THIS INSTALLATION
Two tall, curved white walls are spaced six feet apart like open parentheses. They vibrate with the sound of voice and breath.
On either side is room to enter their centre, stand between them and listen; but also, to move in closer, to touch and feel the tactile vibrations.
Curved shapes by their nature invite exploration. They ask to be circled, for you to move around and around them as you listen to what reverberates and resonates, both within the spiral and you – to the invisible volume of sound and the space in between what is both heard and felt.
The original seed for this work began with a sketch of two people leaning against opposite sides of a wall, things unsaid between them. Later, I began drawing spirals while thinking about the idea of the wound that often hides the essential self at our centre, encircled by protections – walls – we unconsciously put up. A felt sense.
Paired with the metaphor of the voice coil that magnetizes a speaker, the homonyms of the word "wound" – both an injury and the past tense of the verb wind – became the springboard for the spoken word piece that is the refrain for the audio.
Then COVID hit, and the space between and around us began to hold new meaning. Ditto the breath and what could be touched.
Listen to the audio here
Documentation by Ellen Harasimowicz
Special thanks to Andy White (fabrication/installation) and Geoff Parker (onsite audio engineer)