Ten questions from Erin Toale for Ethan Rose regarding his exhibition Slant.

1.
ET
In Slant there are locations where the viewer’s body is manipulated by the work; one has to duck to maneuver close to it. Can you explain how you think about situating the spectator optimally within the design of an installation?

ER
In my installations I am interested in engaging visitors with an embodied experience of sound. Slant introduces a stronger interruption into the architecture of the gallery than my previous works, and requires visitors to duck under the piece in order to gain entry into the space. It is a physical exchange with the work — the kind I would like to encourage.

2.
ET
How do you plan for such logistically complex site-specific installations? How do you troubleshoot when on-site?

ER
I always work off of a floor plan for my installed works — ideally constructing a 3D model in software where I can sketch out ideas. This was certainly the case with this project, which was the most architecturally involved gallery installation that I have done thus far. I do always leave things a little open ended so that things can be adjusted on-site. This goes for both the physical installation and the sonic content. In fact, this approach of balancing preparation and reaction is a consistent theme in my work.

3.
ET
Can you explain in detail the audio component of this work? What, specifically, are we listening to and how are the sounds generated?

ER
The sounds are recordings of a disassembled cuckoo clock and a feather. I recorded the bellows from the cuckoo and then layered them with recordings of the feather to create the denser soundscapes that are moving through the speakers.

4.
ET
What dictated the decision to program Slant as opposed to making it interactive? Is the software attempting to imitate the human element of chance or chaos?

ER
Slant is programmed in a kind of cinematic way that made an interactive implementation seem unnecessary. The software oscillates between moments of lesser and greater activity to create the sensation of passage. It is somewhat chaotic, but generally composed and shaped.

5.
ET
I read the way you digitally recreate or imitate organic sounds as a type of intervention. Why do you take this extra step when it would ostensibly be easier to go to an aviary with a field recorder?

ER
The dialogue between studio and world is an important one for me. The recording space, which is a controlled environment, has the potential to create fantastic spaces, musical spaces, and literally impossible spaces by allowing proximities and reflections that wouldn’t exist in the real world. My work is about playing with these notions by returning studio work into real physical spaces. Recording an aviary is interesting, but doesn’t allow the same kind of compositional possibilities.

6.
ET
My favorite place to stand is all the way in the back of the gallery, against the north wall. You can see almost the whole installation from that perspective along with the very monotonous backdrop of Chicago Avenue traffic. The combination of austerity and cityscape is juxtaposed with a symphony of synthetically generated natural sounds. Can you expand on the recurring thematic interplay between urban and rural in your work?

ER
When I designed the piece I was intrigued by these windows and the proximity to the street. I knew the sounds and images of Chicago Avenue would leak into the work, and I wanted to invite them in. I am not particularly interested in how we answer questions of nature vs. culture. I am more interested in simply opening the question and creating a sense of wonder. I don’t think of the rural vs urban as a binary, and instead my work seeks to undo discrete categories to allow for an experience of synthesis.

7.
ET
From your artist statement: “My practice is often in direct dialogue with a specificity of materials, architectures, and technologies which are invited into the formative nature of his finished pieces.” What entities is Slant in dialogue with? What piece of art, music, or architecture did you think about most while developing it?

ER
My work is often about a dialogue of some sort. Sound and space.  Studio and world. And as you pointed out in the previous question, rural and urban. These are themes that interest me, but I am also interested in the practice of dialogue itself.  In the case of Slant, the installation is in dialogue with the architecture of the space. The shapes were inspired by and relate to the shape of the gallery. The forms both shape and were shaped by the space. The same goes for the sonic content. I created the piece in-studio to a point and then I bring it into the space and hear what it does and adjust it. So the space also shapes the sound as the sound shapes the space. 

8.
ET
What role does anxiety play in your work?

ER
We live in a rushed era of anxiety and it seems to me that creating moments of pause is important. I am trying to engage that moment.

9.
ET
You just launched a sonic experience company called Parallel, which “uses sound to express ideas, explore concepts, and convey messages that resonate with audiences worldwide.” How do you balance your studio and commercial practices? Do you have any advice for creative entrepreneurs hoping to do the same?

ER
I am excited about this new venture. I think of Parallel as a way to extend sound into other areas of culture and design and this excites me. My work has always been about extension, about widening, about opening and possibility. Parallel feels right in line with this. I am still navigating the divisions between my studio practice and this more commercial approach, and I expect that there will be a lot of crossover. A lot of dialogue as one informs the other. I’m not so concerned about the purity of art. I’m more interested in the ways in which creative thinking can expand into the world.

10.
ET
What question about your practice are you tired of answering?

ER
Questions are fine. Lately I find myself tiring of answers in general. I think it is one of the big problems of the world, perhaps really the biggest problem — everyone holding so tightly onto their own answers. That does tire me sometimes.

 

Ethan Rose is a sound artist and composer living in Portland.

Erin Toale is an artist, curator and writer living in Chicago.