I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT 2007,
COLLABORATION WITH JUHA LAATIKAINEN
Sound installation, wireless headphones, motion sensors, light, MAX/MSP and contact microphones. Duration 15 min.
The entrance of the gallery was made to a reception area. Here the viewer got wireless headphones before entering the installation. Only one person was allowed to enter at a time. The installation was divided in six different scenes. All the scenes had their own soundtrack that was activated through motion sensors and played to the wireless headphones. The sounds were recorded using headset microphones, which gave a believable presence to the characters in the space. All the lights were in sync with the spectator’s movements and usually only one spot was on at a time. This made the overall look of the space dark.
The story was written and recorded in a way that the role of the viewer changed from a bystander to a participant. In the end the spectator became the subject of the story and the work itself.
The first scene happened outside the window, it was an encountering of a woman and a man. In the scene the man gets an invitation to a party at the woman’s home. The viewer is asked to enter through the door. The viewer enters the room as the man; the woman kindly welcomes him inside.In the beginning the atmosphere is slightly awkward, he is the first guest to arrive. Gradually they start to get the discussion going and after the man tells a story he’d just read, the atmosphere becomes more comfortable. Only to be broken by an unforeseeable event.
The scenes after this small disaster eventually left the viewer alone in the story and in the space. The fifth scene was a built floor with contact microphones underneath, where the viewer could only hear the amplified sound of his/her footsteps.
Actors:
Anna-Mari Karvonen and Miikka Tuominen
Music:
Michiko Isogai
Support:
Svenska kulturfonden
Finnish Academy of Fine Art’s Gallery, Helsinki