Projects
Building
Barn Razing
Betty Rymer
Tapping the Audience
with.draw
FLO(we){u)R
Past Present Perfect
re.pur.pose
Work-In-Progress
redress
site:WARE:Chicago
Johnny Appleseed
PastTimes
Practical Culture
K[ne(e){a}d]
Excavating History
Watershed
Souvenir
Tapping the Audience
Collaborative projectwith Lia Rousett
We invite the audience to slip on a pair of taps, amplifying the gallery experience and creating an audible acknowledgment of the physical patterns of viewing. As the audience navigates the exhibition, their approaches, pauses and retreats become solo sound movements. As multiple audience members perform, they not only become aware of their own experiences through the movements of their bodies, they also become attuned to the sound movements of others. Generally, the concrete floors and high ceilings of the museum create quietude and solemnity. Tapping the Audience transforms these attributes into creative and contributive acoustic opportunities.
This work questions the site of cultural production. The sound the viewers generate are performed in the pathways and spaces in-between. Non-sculptural spaces become sites for creating a work in sound. Pace, force, and the inevitable quirks of unconscious movements, all become commentary to the exhibition. Sound can be interpreted as critical dialogue in code. The acts of viewing are activated and participants become makers.
On a less serious note, taps bring an element of playfulness to the Museum. The taps connect viewing to the body, the space and offer an opportunity to express. This last bit, the call to express, was taken up, from the youngest of viewers to the oldest. We were, in truth, surprised by and so pleased with the sheer joy this project generated.
Download the sound of tapping.
TAPPINGTHEAUDIENCE
