selected work
sonic/performance
Kinetic sound and light sculpture
Lightbulb, electronic and audio components
Dimensions variable
Wayward illuminates and destabilizes a space with the continuous pendulum-like swing of a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Its never-ending oscillation is unnerving and readily becomes hypnotic. The subtle abstracted sound of a human voice ‘chanting’ “chi chi chi cha, chi cha” emanates from the glassbulb itself and casts a flight of sound throughout the space.
The sound, recorded by the artist, was abstracted from a memory of a performer from the 1930s in the U.S. performing in blackface. While like a memory, the sound penetrates the present and the body of the present auditor who becomes both a subject and object of the experience.
The object itself recalls the simple light fixtures used to light ‘heterotopic’ spaces, a closet, an attic, a basement, etc., while simultaneously referencing the fetishistic qualities of a brushed steel design microphone. The sound from a small speaker hidden in the bulb fixture is amplified by the glass which becomes both an optical and a sonic ‘illuminator’ while never allowing the viewer/auditor a fixed perspective nor a clear distance from its hypnotic effect. The viewer is drawn into a dream-like performance space.
VIDEO FILES
Wayward illuminates and destabilizes a space with the continuous pendulum-like swing of a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Its never-ending oscillation is unnerving and readily becomes hypnotic. The subtle abstracted sound of a human voice ‘chanting’ “chi chi chi cha, chi cha” emanates from the glassbulb itself and casts a flight of sound throughout the space.
The sound, recorded by the artist, was abstracted from a memory of a performer from the 1930s in the U.S. performing in blackface. While like a memory, the sound penetrates the present and the body of the present auditor who becomes both a subject and object of the experience.
The object itself recalls the simple light fixtures used to light ‘heterotopic’ spaces, a closet, an attic, a basement, etc., while simultaneously referencing the fetishistic qualities of a brushed steel design microphone. The sound from a small speaker hidden in the bulb fixture is amplified by the glass which becomes both an optical and a sonic ‘illuminator’ while never allowing the viewer/auditor a fixed perspective nor a clear distance from its hypnotic effect. The viewer is drawn into a dream-like performance space.
