The echo is a sound mediated through space and reflection, an inaccurate replica of the originating sound. It acknowledges context, it acknowledges the stickiness of its surroundings.

 

Taking the inability to simultaneously participate in and view a film as a starting point for thought, pre ~ e c h o touches on the irreconcilable experiences of being and observing, through the activation of two discrete spaces.

 

Sensors on the outdoor balcony pick up vibrations from the audience’s footsteps as they cause reverberations on the metal slats. These are transmuted into pulses on vibrating motors that cause PVC sheets in the indoor mezzanine space to undulate, generating a subtle, wobbly soundscape in real-time. Low humming frequencies are simultaneously played on contact speakers that send reverberations through the metal walls of the inside space, turning the surfaces into conductors for sound.

 

Observing within the indoor space prohibits the experience of being present in the outdoor space, aside from some fleeting echoes of quivers reflected by the PVC strips.

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Shown at ON/OFF/SCREEN, part of Singapore Art Week 2021.

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Indoor photo by Adar Ng and Dave Lim.