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.
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5 comments:
The listening station revolutionizes communication. Since the device forces participants to speak uninterrupted in a close proximity to each other, there is a connection that provides for a more candid conversation; it seems to enhance the “trust” factor between the two people. Furthermore, the fact that the participants must choose the amount of time for which they would speak/listen shows how confident they are in speaking ability and, at least in our class, the participants found it very difficult to talk for that period of time.
Zoe
I had a great time using the Listening Station. It is truly a functional piece of art. It also reminded me of the peer counseling program that I used to be apart of, in which students are "taught" how to listen. In this day and age, we are less prone to simply listen to one another. While using the station, I found myself actively listening, as opposed to thinking of something else to say as I usually do. I hope to see more of these around campus in permanent form!!
Dear Zoe,
I completely agree with Omar that the listening station is an interesting, functional piece of art. Part of me thinks that everyone should have one in the their home! Upon reflection, the listening station made me listen very carefully, and illustrated how hard it can be to talk for several minutes without feedback (a very important part of human interaction). It also got me thinking, what would the experience have been like if I were not paired with Omar, but say my dad, or brother. What subjects do people feel comfortable talking about, and under what context. This very question in many ways relates to a Telephone Conversation assingment we had in class, but in essense takes out the techological component of the process. How does the placement of the listening station (indoors, outdoors) effect the experience? I think in some ways the listening station is an escape from the the overwhelming noise of the modern age and world of blackberrys and trios. Participating in the listening station made me feel anxious, and as if i was in the spotlight, or on camera. Certainly the eyes and ears of my fellow classmates were focused on Omar and I, but this sense of pressure/attention was probably a good thing in so much as it raised self-awareness and made me reflect more carefully than usual. It would be interesting to run some clinical studies and see if using the listening station on a daily basis could relieve stress, anxiety, and improve brain capacity. The listening station would be great in a pulbic park, and it would be fun to see more elaborate designs/colors for variety. I would love to see your drawing!
Zoe,
I think the role you are taking on with this project is, more than anything else, that of an architect. Reconfiguring public space in the interest of making that space facilitate different kinds of interaction, with the interaction it facilitates being the final product of the piece.
One thing this reminded me of was the way that in some cities the seats in subway cars all face the same way, so you are always looking at the back of someone's head, but in others, they are arranged in booths, so that you're always actually face-to-face with someone -- a totally different experience. Why not arrange all the seats in Listening Stations? Perhaps a proposal to SEPTA is in order.
I think the listening station is living theatre and so it is a contemporary expression or work of art. I think that it works as a cool social experiment for example, someone may test themself to see if they good be a good listener and refrain from interrupting.
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