sound installation
1994
los angeles zoo
water music was created for the 1994 far safari at the old los angeles zoo – an area that was abandoned. some of the artists worked with old cages and broken down exhibit areas, while others worked more discreetly.
this was my second collaboration with photographer/musician kevin mchugh. the piece itself was pretty simple. we took a few small tape recorders and placed them inside old terra-cotta water pipes. the sounds were recordings of water, as well as percussion objects that held water, and other things that seemed to reference water. (at least that is what i remember from 15 years ago…).
because the pieces were inside pipes, beneath the ground, no gear was visible, and hence, no obvious marker for the “artwork”. i was very interested, and still am, in the idea of a work simply being placed within an existing landscape, and simply letting it be. the sounds emanating from the pipes were very quiet, and so, many people did not even know the work was there (it was up for only a weekend), but of course, some people noticed, and every once in awhile i would see someone bent over with their ear aimed at a hole in the pipe, listening.
the piece was a response to max neuhaus’ times square piece (which i’d heard of, but never heard); and the humble nature of rolf julius’ work.