The Whole is Also a Hole
Excerpt from The Whole is Also a Hole
Walker Art Center
Commissioned by Allie Tepper as part of Resonance: A Sound Art Marathon
May 18th, 2019
“This whole though is also a hole: the whole individual is emptied out by the very thing that completes it. That is to say, language brings one into consciousness while deflating individuality by forcing it into its network, by making the “song of myself” accountable on the pages of a social text.” – Brandon LaBelle
The Whole is also a Hole is a corporeal resonating sculptural machine that plays, and is played. Comprised of organic matter-filled glass vessels charged and broken by sound, two-way mirrors, and interlocking piano-esque chambers, the piece functions as a performer, instrument, ensemble, and stage. It screams and is also being screamed. The artist’s voice fills The Whole is also a Hole until liquids jump, shake, and release. This piece speaks through the phenomenology of resonance–a set of conditions or relationships between things (bodies, ideas, energy, objects, sounds)–to form a hybrid affect found in the inter-subjective vibrating now
Photo Credit: Malanda Jean-Claude