INSTALLATION EXPERIENCE

being hear - hear being experiential installation


"behind the wall was strange and strong, and I guess I'm not the only one who feels like this." Hanneke Paauwe, 04/12

it worked.

This happened: one at a time people were guided through the caves of le bains by christina clar. listening to sounds and experiencing (s)light space structures and her interpro-grams along the walk - still, silent and dark.

the last path led to a large, rectangular room, in the middle a wall made of bails of hay. upon this wall projected video loops - the bug-circuit, the walk and sheep sleep. coming out from the wall on a horizontal axis - a straw man sculpture made by sweeping.

Bass frequency undulates in peaks and valleys depending upon where one moved. a filled silence. Once passing around the wall of hay they see me (black sheep costumed) seated on a bail on one side of a black box. tiny holes cut into top of box emit shards of light. they sit. i offer them water with gas and attach the headphones they have around their neck to a disc-man ...they listen to my voice as i follow their eyes. they can hardly see me. the last words in the ears ("now... silence").

we sit. we sit. we gaze. we ...

some people stayed 2, other's 20 minutes and did not want to leave, thanking me when finally it was clear i needed to get to the next person. A woman sang to me, another picked at straw, making little sculptures & percussion on the box. i sat and never said a word. i had another disc-man, they couldn't see, with which i controlled the frequency, the only sound in the environment warmed by large heating sheets... one man darted his eyes around, searching for the sound, another sat, playing with my eyes... upon each person leaving i cut a section from my beard (that had been growing since i sat with sheep)

it was intense, amazing and the first in a new form.

. documentation of the work is in brussels, i am awaiting a package of video and stills. will upload when available.