Sound
Bites -
2002

Site specific audio installation in 5 parts
for The Koffler Gallery. Toronto, 2002 (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 attention
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 traveling
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. So I installed
6 discreet white utility boxes in these areas each playing a captured
looped sound from different parts of the Koffler complex.
exhibition history>
2002 Koffler Gallery (Toronto ON)