Audible Distance
Maebayashi Akitsugu, 1997

Links
http://www.ntticc.or.jp
http://www2.gol.com

Audible Distance is an installation focusing on auditory sense as an interface between the body and the environment. As we move about in space each day there is a well visible "physical distance" that we build and maintain in our communication. Whether we are meeting a stranger for the the first time or know someone very well, each will embody very different spatial relations between two people.

"Each of the three subjects is equipped with a head mount display and a sensor system and enters a dark five-meter square. In this space, their heartbeats are converted into audible pulses and visible globular shapes of computer graphics, and these are the only signals that make the position of another person perceptible. The subjects become aware of space existing between themselves and other persons, not by way of their physical appearance or voice but in the form of virtual space made visible and audible." [source]

I found the work interesting in its similarity to Perceptual Arena where we are put in a space where we must alter the use of our perceptions that we have been accustomed to and too comfortable to rely on. The visitor must listen to the change to realize the changing relationships to the other person in the space, crossing their own boundaries and reexperience the formation of relationship.

Submitted by
Katalin Balanki

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