Public sound art
A sonic Break
Lawn&Cuffs / Freedom&Captivity / Inside&Outside
The Covid-19 pandemic forced society into great changes. Including, but, not limited to, a step away from the « productive » lives we had grown accustomed to living. It was also a moment to reflect on the inside and the outside worlds. Work and life, being free and locked. It was a unique opportunity to think about our soundscape in a meaningful and unique way.
Using sound as a medium, this project allow for a social and ecological reflection. First on how the indoor and the outdoor soundscapes can be defined as parts of a much broader (sonic) Eco-system. Then on the absence (total or partial) of one part of our sonic Eco-system or the other. And finally on how it affects us and our behavior.
This artistic proposal also aim to unravel the interactions between « sounds » and « beings » in these contexts (inside and outside, global health crisis…), by delving into the following questions:
– What is the indoor soundscape constituted of?
– What is the outdoor soundscape constituted of?
– Do we need a distinction between both soundscapes?
– Are the frontiers between these soundscapes even existing?
– Why do we need to analyze those distinctions?
– How can this focus on sound be a first step toward a broader social and ecological reflection on human interactions?
The selected absences created by indoor sound filters (walls, windows, architecture…) and the opportunity to experience particularly quiet natural and urban outdoor soundscape constituted two line of thought brought into focus during the Pandemic. There is probably more, I hope this sound exploration to be a trigger to unwrap them.
Technically, the installation consist of ten autonomous electronic modules (Arduino, solenoids, motors, speakers, transducers…) that explore the soundscape of this outside site by adding a new layer of sounds. These modules tap, scratch, vibrate and resonate on plants, trees, the ground, bikes racks, poles… The technology involved in this project constitute a link between the (sonic) modernity (computer, sensors, solar panels…) of our lives and the ecological concerns and questions that arise from the way we live, we produce, we interact, we classify and react as a society.
Welcome to pause. between lawn&cuffs, where natural, urban and electro-mechanical sounds mix to become tools responding to the ecological urgency, exploring the social sphere during these challenging times, proposing links and blurring the distinctions between inner and outer networks so we can hear, imagine reflect on and experience the Eco-system as a whole.
Supported, in part, by a grant from the City of Davis Arts & Cultural Affairs program.
A first occurrence of pause. between lawn&cuffs has been presented in G Street plaza in Davis, California between February 4th and February 28th 2021.
Boris Allenou 