Wappen Field

Wappen Field, a sculpture & sound installation made of 12 chrome plated steel helmets, resembling face guards, reflected in a room measuring 10’x24’x16’. Each helmet’s dedicated speaker animates the space with vocals, extended voice techniques & sounds created for this work. The vocal composition runs thru SuperCollider, triggering the lone voice of 1 helmet, or triads, playing at front, back & sides of the room & lastly as a chorus playing all at once. The sonic configuration explores facets of human emotion as energy propelled between the yin/yang impulses of the universe: dissonance & cacophony evolving to consonance & harmony. Wappen Field is a participatory experience: the aural & visual are wedded. Visitors are invited to apprehend the environment viscerally & perceive sound spatially. The helmets evoke armor, which protects physical & psychic space in an attempt to create a border between self & other. The boundary of armor asks: what is shut in, what is shut out?

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