Today I brought the Listening Stations to visit Mara Mills' class: "Things That Talk", a sound studies course offered by the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mara and I met when she brought a student from the course to visit the Listening Station at the International House installation.
I'll be posting images and thoughts on the visit soon! Stay tuned also for comments posted by the students from the course on their experience and thoughts on the Listening Station.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Listening Station at The International House
The Listening Station was at The International House
from January 11 to February 2, 2007
The Listening Station was permanently installed on the upper level of the International House lobby, available for use by all who visit the building.
I was present to facilitate and discuss the project on four Thursday evenings from 5-7 pm throughout the installation.
( January 11, January 18, January 25, and February 1)
Participants were invited to visit with someone you would like to take turns listening with, or to participate with me or someone whom they have not met before.
Unlike the previous outdoor installations of the Listening Station, which were more temporary, this installation enabled and required me to provide a structure for eliciting feedback. On the street, I was always present to discuss participants' reactions after they used the station with me or someone else. At the International House, I would only be present at the installation for a few hours each week. I wanted to have a way to know a little bit about how the station was being used when I was not there. Participants were asked to record and describe their Listening Station experience in a few words on a small feedback form, and to post it on one of the bulletin boards.
The feedback forms also provided insight into the varying responses to the Listening Station for other participants.
On the third Thursday evening, I had a group of young people from my synagogue community visit as part of their Torah School program. They mainly used the stations with each other and their parents, but I got a turn too...
Over the month at the International House, I began to notice that I was facilitating the use of the stations much less than I had on the street. Passersby in the International House were much less likely to express interest directly to me than folks often were on the corner at 40th and Walnut. There were also just fewer people available in the lobby in the evenings.
I began to notice myself stepping back to observe others using the installation, letting them reflect on their own by using the feedback forms. I think that part of this new attitude was the new context that I had created for the Listening Station. This installation met part of my goal for the Listening Station in general- that it exist on its own, separate from me as a personality, as the "artist".
Coming soon on my website will be scanned images of the feedback forms...
Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the International House Listening Station installation!
from January 11 to February 2, 2007
The Listening Station was permanently installed on the upper level of the International House lobby, available for use by all who visit the building.
I was present to facilitate and discuss the project on four Thursday evenings from 5-7 pm throughout the installation.
( January 11, January 18, January 25, and February 1)
Participants were invited to visit with someone you would like to take turns listening with, or to participate with me or someone whom they have not met before.
Unlike the previous outdoor installations of the Listening Station, which were more temporary, this installation enabled and required me to provide a structure for eliciting feedback. On the street, I was always present to discuss participants' reactions after they used the station with me or someone else. At the International House, I would only be present at the installation for a few hours each week. I wanted to have a way to know a little bit about how the station was being used when I was not there. Participants were asked to record and describe their Listening Station experience in a few words on a small feedback form, and to post it on one of the bulletin boards.
The feedback forms also provided insight into the varying responses to the Listening Station for other participants.
On the third Thursday evening, I had a group of young people from my synagogue community visit as part of their Torah School program. They mainly used the stations with each other and their parents, but I got a turn too...
Over the month at the International House, I began to notice that I was facilitating the use of the stations much less than I had on the street. Passersby in the International House were much less likely to express interest directly to me than folks often were on the corner at 40th and Walnut. There were also just fewer people available in the lobby in the evenings.
I began to notice myself stepping back to observe others using the installation, letting them reflect on their own by using the feedback forms. I think that part of this new attitude was the new context that I had created for the Listening Station. This installation met part of my goal for the Listening Station in general- that it exist on its own, separate from me as a personality, as the "artist".
Coming soon on my website will be scanned images of the feedback forms...
Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the International House Listening Station installation!
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