“How Do You Here Me?”
50-minute spatial sound installation created though an artistic residency at Lobe Studio, one of three spatial sound studios in the world to use 4DSOUND technology.
“How Do You Here Me?” explores the physical presence of sound and offers a felt sense of proximity where it may not be possible, in an effort to appreciate and refine a sensitivity to the tangible world of vibrations. This project uses the illusory potential of sound to create new spaces and places to ponder.
Research for this project involved studying Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), where a certain percentage of the population experiences physical sensations of tingling and chills when listening. This effect, studied in music and referred to as “musical frisson,” involves changes in skin conductance and the release of dopamine. I also explored the physiological benefits of brainwave synchronization — the premise behind binaural beats — and coregulation in polyvagal theory wherein an individual’s nervous system is positively influenced by another individual’s more regulated nervous system. “How Do You Here Me?” is not a meant to be experienced as music, but as an installation, accessed through auditory cues.
Part of sensing physical presence requires an ability to discern certain qualities. With special attention paid to intent and the approach to the movement of sound, using the doppler effect and convolution resonance, “How Do You Here Me?” works to reanimate the physical presence of bodies and rematerialize place. Upon listening, different modes of perceived engagement are expected based on theories of musical expectancy; namely habitually assumed progression, the activation of mirror neurons, and the phenomenon of emotional contagion based on the potential for visual imagery suggested through sound. “How Do You Here Me?” also considers the resonating of specific sound frequencies on the skin and in the body to create an embodied experience of physical presence and perceptual environments.