WEEK 8 - ARTSPACE / RESPONSE TO SOUND DESIGN

In class we covered equalisation and reverb. I particularly found the reverb section useful as it's something that will definitely add to my piece, whereas I felt that the different sections of my piece were already recorded fairly well so I don't really need to equalise them much. 

We then went up to Artspace on K Road, to view/listen to the exhibition, The Shadow of the Dome of Pleasure. Featuring a number of artists, the work was a combination of moving image and sound pieces, that were very contemporary forms. 

My Response:

The curator, Henry Davidson, wanted to create an exhibition that explored different possibilities by displaying a group show of video work that could set up relationships between each work, opposed to a traditional gallery context where the works are usually separate and in discrete screening rooms - due to practical reasons such as sounds and light. So he selected existing pieces and one new piece specifically for the show by Juliet Carpenter, and then worked with two artists who's practices are involved with architecture and interior design - Biljiana Popovic and Alexander Laurie - who built the structure that houses the work (so their work serves all the other works). A large part of what they had to do was create a structure that was sound proof and light proof, but still brought the works relationships together. To do this, they used a special insulation called Green Stuff between the walls. However there is a little bit of bleed so that when you move around, you can also hear the transition of one piece to the next. Henry wanted to create an intense environment where you have to move from each piece in a directed way, so it is quite controlled in what works you see first. 

I thought this was extremely clever and well thought out, and after talking to Henry and understanding the effort and extent that was made to produce an exhibition like this, I can definitely appreciate it even more. Before I had known this, I was a little bit confused about the aim and process of the exhibition. I had never thought about the interior design of an exhibition, as I naturally was always more of aware of the actual work displayed, opposed to it's surrounding environment. The fact that the space has been designed to work with sound, while displaying sound pieces, is something I think is very neat and would love to see more of. The only other time where I have really witnessed a room that is designed to work with sound, was at Semi-Permanent this year, where there were animated 3D shapes protected on the wall, and the louder the audience cheered, the greater the shapes would get and bounce off the walls - so it was interactive with the audience.  

Trailer: The Shadow of the Dome on Vimeo