Sound Bites - 2002
Site specific installation for The Koffler Gallery's Flex
Program
The main focus or function of the piece entitled “Sound-Bites”
was to, in some small way, bring as many of the separate environments
of the sprawling Koffler center together in order to form a more cohesive
view and or experience of the whole.
Upon visiting the site for the first time the thing that first attracted
my attention were the sounds of several of the distinct areas within
the center.
Notably, the first one that caught my senses and my mind
was…The sound of a single person on the basketball court, the
running shoes squeaking on the highly waxed floors, and the ball echoing
off the walls in the uniquely acoustic environment…I felt the
same way with the sounds of splashing and somewhat muffled voices in
the pool area…and then I imagined the sounds of applause in the
theatre and what other unique auditory environments were to be found
here.
This got me thinking about wanting to displace these isolated,
highly specialized fractured elements of sound and experience of site
into other areas of the center. To help merge the solitary encounter
into a collective one.
In my effort in wanting to link these detached locales of experience
I thought back to my initial encounters with them…how I arrived
at them…literally.
It was through travelling hallways, going up and down
staircases, entering elevators and following outdoor paths. All of these
act as vital public arteries connecting each area – all of which
in turn paradoxically act as distances between each area. I then realized
it was these crucial midway points that I would focus my attention on.
I installed 6 discreet white utility boxes in these areas
each playing a captured sound from differnent parts of the Koffler complex:
1. Basketball Court
2. Theatre Applause
3. Violin Lesson
4. Exercise Class
5. Badminton Game
6. Swimming Lesson