Jason Kahn 
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"Sound and Space"

Entitle Magazine Number 5, Volume 2, 2011

http://creative.mmu.edu.my/2011/entitle.html

printable version


In my installations I use sound to investigate the spatial, sonic and social properties of different spaces. The idea is not to use sound as an end in and of itself, but as a means of exploring the different contexts of a space. I am not interested in the sound I place in a space as much as how this sound affects how we perceive a space.

When I approach a space to use for an installation I first ask myself, "How is this space used, what is it for?" Knowing something about a space often determines how I will work with that space. For the most part, my installations are site specific. And in this sense, I would characterize these installations as having more to do with the visual arts as opposed to the "sound arts." I use the idea of a certain space to shape and mold it through the lens of sound.

Furthermore, these works also pose questions about the very ideas of art and how it is perceived, both as a commodity and as an object of perception. I am interested in examining the notions of art as presented in a gallery or museum and of the expectations we have in encountering art in these settings.

Perhaps the overarching context of my work lies in reactivating our awareness of the world around us. My installations address the very act of perception which, in the face of the ever-growing technological cloud around us, has become dulled. We withdraw into a shell in order to preserve our sanity from an excess of sensory input. My installations provide an opportunity to re-focus on the space surrounding us.