Reflections of a Thousand Faces
sound, aural cartography, installation
2015—DEC
Reflections of a Thousand Faces was a site-specific, 12-channel, generative sound installation in a stairwell of the List Visual Arts Center at MIT.
The sounds were captured by mapping the network of underground tunnels that lay below the campus (32-0 MECHAN). Additional sounds were captured with contact mics on various surfaces and pipes, and then amplified in the stiarwell. The blending of audio that occured live from within the space and from recordings captured outside created a disorientation that served to reorient passersby that were often rushing through. A tension occurs, and the suspension of time is a momentary detour that relocates a new experience, expands present circumstances of the space, and attempts to create a deeper relationship between listeners and their surroundings.
Thank you to Council for the Arts at MIT and the School of Architecture + Planning at MIT for supporting the project.
Speakers (12), speaker wire, amplifiers (6), audio interface, computer, custom software, custom hardware, field recordings