Room 402
2011
Performative sound installation
Monitor speakers, vibration speakers, various materials for room keeping, usher
1-hour loop (30 min playback, 30 min intermission)
The work Room 402 was exhibited in the artist hostel Room 402 of an Art Center, where I had inhabited for three months. During my stay, I made a record of the various noises heard from within and outside the building. Many of these sounds were then adapted and reenacted into a noise drama or a sound journal of sorts. These sounds embody the inner ecology of this multi-purpose building—containing exhibition halls, theaters, offices, recording studios, and artist hostels—and its immediate environment. Further, the intimate traces of people who stayed in the neighboring rooms can also be heard, never before experienced by those who have not resided in Room 402 themselves. Listeners are guided into the space one by one, each hour, sitting on a bed in the middle of the room.
This work began with the memory of living together with a housemate. We were usually unable to meet face to face because of our distinct lifestyles, though we communicated tacitly through the noises we made through the house. Remaining in our respective rooms, we came to know when the other arrived, what the other was doing at a given moment. We only ever listened for each other’s presence and were nevertheless relieved to have a neighbor at all.
In this work, the subtle noises heard from behind the wall give a clue to the kind of space beyond it, as a narrator whispers a story without beginning or end.
(KR)
2011
Performative sound installation
Monitor speakers, vibration speakers, various materials for room keeping, usher
1-hour loop (30 min playback, 30 min intermission)
The work Room 402 was exhibited in the artist hostel Room 402 of an Art Center, where I had inhabited for three months. During my stay, I made a record of the various noises heard from within and outside the building. Many of these sounds were then adapted and reenacted into a noise drama or a sound journal of sorts. These sounds embody the inner ecology of this multi-purpose building—containing exhibition halls, theaters, offices, recording studios, and artist hostels—and its immediate environment. Further, the intimate traces of people who stayed in the neighboring rooms can also be heard, never before experienced by those who have not resided in Room 402 themselves. Listeners are guided into the space one by one, each hour, sitting on a bed in the middle of the room.
This work began with the memory of living together with a housemate. We were usually unable to meet face to face because of our distinct lifestyles, though we communicated tacitly through the noises we made through the house. Remaining in our respective rooms, we came to know when the other arrived, what the other was doing at a given moment. We only ever listened for each other’s presence and were nevertheless relieved to have a neighbor at all.
In this work, the subtle noises heard from behind the wall give a clue to the kind of space beyond it, as a narrator whispers a story without beginning or end.
(KR)
#1-3 Installation View at Seoul Art Space Mullae (Photo by Jong Hyun Seo)
3 min Video Documentaion