Outsider

2021.

Electronics, sound, and wood.

Housing RaspberryPi, speakers, and ultrasonic sensors within a recreation of a 'room' vessel, Outsider reacts to the viewer encroaching upon its boundaries. Within varying levels of proximity, Outsider plays various spoken word sound works through internal acoustic mechanisms. These mechanisms echo the sounds to specific spaces of its walls, to create an environment where viewers must eavesdrop against the walls to hear the messages being relayed. These messages begin to overlap as the viewer gets closer, causing a cacophony of voices. The more the boundary is violated, the more information gets relayed and simultaneously obscured. Outsider questions the methods of acquiring information, where boundaries must often be violated for progress to be made, marrying voyeurism and privacy. With thanks to C. van Zyl for his coding work.