Brenda Brown: In Situ
Exhibit at Selby Gallery and Ringling
College Campus, 2008
My work is concerned with the reciprocal
revelations of landscapes and sounds. Beyond their
intrinsic experiential attractions, sounds -- if we hear them
can be rich indicators and expressions of landscape ecosystem
phenomena and processes. I am not much interested in
introducing sounds into the landscape but rather I want to draw
attention to those sounds that are integral and perhaps what
they might indicate. I want people to listen.
Ringling Listening Garden, 2008 -- Outside
The concept of a viewing garden is
familiar. It is a garden designed for the eyes. Often viewing
gardens are not entered bodily; their use and aesthetic is
purely visual and discretionary. My listening gardens
are, analogously, designed for the ears, not to be entered
bodily, and dependent on the listener's (as well as the
designer's) discretion.
Sounds for Ringling
Listening Garden were recorded at 5
sites on the Ringling College campus in February 2007 in order
that the sounds synchronize with those of this time of year --
February 2008. These sounds were the basis for the aural
component of the Ringling Listening
Garden -- Inside (see previous
work). For the February 2008 exhibit these recording
sites were marked and connected to the interior gallery
experience by installing a listening device at each one.
These "ears" took the form of flowers; by putting the
base of the stem up to one's ear, one hears the site sounds in
a new way.
