2012
A Space for Reflection is an attempt to provide a safe scenario for a listener to exist within a space that does not imply a need to panic. The specific alarm used in this work is from the Long Range Audio Deterrent or LRAD. The LRAD is an audio deterrent specifically developed for the military to use at war to disperse gatherings of people in public spaces and was used on the American public for the first time in Pittsburgh during the G20 summit September 24th-25th 2009. The alarm fills the space, increasing in volume as more people gather, but being that there is no real threat; there would be no need to leave the space. Provided with this opportunity the listener is presented with an experience that can serve as a preparatory measure for future encounters with the LRAD.
My interest with the directional technology is to return it to its political auditory origins. A Space for Reflection takes this technology and fills a room with reflected sound beams that vary at any given point within the space. The speaker is utilized in such a way where uncontrollability becomes a key element. With the rotation of the four speakers and four mirrors within the space a single sound beam will be bounced a multitude of times and places at any given second. This is a subtle attempt at subverting a technologies initial purpose of isolating sound within an art institution and call attention to the initial political and military use of this technology.