aperture is flexible: in media res
media: 8 loudspeakers, 3D PLA prints, acrylic, 8-channel sound, custom software
duration: infinite
dimensions: variable
year: 2016
The landscape is constructed in layers, unfolding while walking, expanding and contracting with distance. From the panorama to the framed aperture, four stereo recordings present an inverse of the distance seen while looking out the window beyond the site-specific construction. While still at a distance, you can see the landscape in panorama while the only sound heard is that closest to the building yet unseen. As you approach the work, access to the wide visual field becomes limited while the soundscape becomes more immersive; through careful equalization and relative volume levels, psychoacoustic masking is used to create a mix of the sound sources through the listeners movement. When finally approaching the aperture, a single site on the mountain, at distance is seen and heard with great detail, situating the listener in an immense 360-degree sound image created by the blend of the loudspeakers that unfolds the landscape behind them. This work plays with the situated character of a building in its landscape, engaging the window as a form of cinema while flattening the tradition cinematic immersion of audio.
you can read an interview I did with Barbara London about this work and its companion piece aperture is distortion: anamorphosis – [ PDF ]
commissioned for the group exhibition ‘Max Feed‘ at FRAC Franche-Comté
curated by daniele balit