Technique: condenser microphones, piezo microphones, speakers, tin cans, amplifiers,
mixing desk

Kunstraum Aarau
http://www.kunstraumaarau.ch
Aarau, Switzerland

June 6–July 6, 2008

The idea behind "Nach innen nach aussen" (to inside to outside) was to turn around the customarily accepted notion of the exhibiton space as something sealed off from the outside world. I decided to bring the outside world back into this otherwise hermetic space.

Using various contact and condensor microphones hung outside the windows of the third story Kunstraum, I fed the sound environment from outside back into the exhibtion space.

I diffused eight separate streams of sound to eight metal cans (normally used to mix paint) hung from the ceiling of the space. In each can was a small speaker.

I kept the audio streams at a relatively low volume, making it possible to go from can to can and hearing their distinct sounds.

Experienced as a whole when walking around the space the installation took on an eerie life of its own, with snippets of voices, wind, cars passing, rain falling, birds singing and even sounds which weren't there to begin with (one visitor to the exhibition told me she heard water running) phasing in and out within the relatively resonant confines of the Kunstraum's exhibition space.

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