hear + there
hear + there is a collaborative project concerning sound, recording, placemaking, and chance between Morgan Kennedy and myself. This project was the first experimental collaboration that would eventually lead to the creation of the LIV LAB artist collective at WCU. We were able to collaborate as equals through a research assistantship over the summer of 2018 – where we designed, coordinated, researched, and executed the first phase of a full-scale project. Through the incorporation of craft-based techniques, we fabricated backpacks that would allow us to traverse the estuaries of greater Cullowhee in Western North Carolina and collect river rocks. The packs were inspired by alpine packboard design and coopering skills to create buckets to carry the load. While on these hikes, we performed a ritual of collection, where we gather various objects and information from the landscape. This information takes the form of sound, video, vibration, still photography, mapping, and river rocks.
The traditional techniques used to facilitate material and information collection were combined with new technologies like piezo pick-ups, projection, and GPS mapping to create new ways of storytelling, and placemaking. The sampled materials hold within them the information of their place of origin, and event. After collecting this information, we transformed it into a new format, where the story of the event is abstracted for its source material, and displayed for the audience to engage. The experience, location, and art objects all act as a signifier of locality and geographic history.
The resulting installation is site-specific, responding to the architecture of the venue. Audience members can interact with the river rocks directly, amplified through piezo pick-ups and an adjacent speaker wall. The audience’s engagement fills a gallery with the chance sounds or “music” of Cullowhee’s history. Alongside the rock component, artifacts used during the ritual of collecting will be displayed, as well as, video, and relief prints mapping our pathways. hear + there is a continual work in progress, that is open to new locations and venue for display.