THE SOUND OF LIGHT IN A SILENT ROOM

Exhibited at D Museum, Seoul, South Korea

“The Sound Of Light In A Silent Room” is a non-cochlear sound installation that explores the vibrational qualities of sound – silently – through light. Installed in an anechoic chamber (a room designed to completely absorb sonic reflections) the work utilizes no speakers, but 12 custom built lights with a total of 576 individually controllable LEDs. An extremely quick choreography of flashing lights creates an animation of shadows that play with the unique architecture of the acoustical paneling to ‘vibrate’ the entire room: changing shadows at speeds that confuse the brain into seeing the room itself move and transform dimensions.

Silence is often assumed to be a relaxing experience, but in reality an anechoic chamber is disorienting and uncomfortable – and the silence is physically deafening. In part, this is because our experience of the world is connected to acoustical imprints of spaces telling our unconscious mind where we are, what we’re surrounded by, and how to engage with that space. In a room that suppresses acoustics, we are left in a state of deprivation and dislocation. “The Sound Of Light In A Silent Room” exchanges acoustical imprint with a vibrational light imprint to explore the crossover spaces between these two senses.