Constance ARI

Professional Voyeur explores the power of surround sound to shift space both emotionally and physically. The viewer enters the darkened space and is drawn towards a beautiful wooden house lit by a single spotlight. Compelled to move towards the sound of voices radiating from within the house, it becomes clear they are overhearing a cut-up monologue. A woman speaks of her most intimate thoughts on men, sex, self, emotion and desire. The sound scape built around and into the spoken word, immerses the viewer in this voyeuristic space as it literally surrounds them. The droning sounds become more and more invasive, creating a grating discomfort before dissipating, leaving only the woman’s voice, alone and exposed. The story is designed to loop, fragmenting and then remixing parts of the woman’s story. The viewer then individually pieces these parts together, enforcing the idea of perception.

The surround sound installation Unlikely Sounds examines how sound, independent of visual, can lull us into a comfortable, familiar space. Then, without warning, it throws us into a different, contrasting context. This can occur even when standing in a dark space. Eight minutes of serene, inoffensive and banal (constructed) environments are suddenly interrupted by a sonic assault which invades the space. Overwhelmed, the intention is for the viewer to be temporarily transported to a battlefield where they are forced to consider the reality of war and it’s consequences. A confronting interaction with violence and war via sound - a different experience to the media’s regulated filter - TV.