Wayward Bridge, Westward Sun
2023
Oriented strand board, coated steel pipe, cement, 12-channel live processed sound (Max MSP, 20 speakers, 3 microphones)
Wayward Bridge, Westward Sun, is a large interactive architectural system that integrates sculpture with technology to encourage audience movement and exploration through sound spatialization. The form of the bridge suggests circularity and recursion, fugitive to the Cartesian grid as it appears to dip beneath the surface of our known ground to emerge once more. It asks participants to orient their bodies out of plumb and negotiate with gravity as they navigate the piece. The sound of footsteps on the bridge are modulated to sound wet, which is a reversal of bridge logic. The footsteps loop and circle around the bridge system, stacking into dense, ambient noise. Wayward Bridge, Westward Sun facilitates audience engagement by promoting exploration that is situated in personal intuition, rather than directed ambulance. As the audience traverses the architectural system, their movements echo the artist’s past journey as an immigrant body.
Installation image from The Wallach Art Gallery, Lenfest Center of the Arts (New York, New York).
