sound installation
2001
chopin theater
chicago
“shells” was an 8 channel audio installation, created for the 4th annual transmissions festival in chicago, and i was asked to create a site specific work for one of the front doors of the chopin theatre. the doors faced a very busy street, and the piece was created using the sounds of passing cars, which were manipulated through fragmentation, looping, and pitch shifting, to resemble quiet bells or tones. these sounds were then played back through speakers attached to the glass windows of a locked door.
because of the loudness of the location, my intent was to bring the viewer/listener close to the speakers, as one could only be able to hear the installation by placing their ear against the glass.
i used sound to offer a kind of fractured reflection of what is heard and seen in the existing landscape, and the experience of listening to the installation, by pressing one’s ear to the glass, becomes much like listening to something on headphones – an activity of intimacy and one of detachment from the existing sound – in an attempt to corral the noise of the local landscape into something less spectacular and offering some sort of quiet alternative. i was also interested in how one can offer an intimate experience in such an overly public space. the title is a reference to the activity of listening to seashells by placing one’s ear across the opening – a quiet activity of transportation.