I was asked to join Lacuna Observatory, an artist collective a while back and we just had our first show exploring the spaces between dreams and the waking state. While I showcased a couple sculptures I created for the show, Dreamcrusher I and Dreamcrusher II, my main contributions were naturally on the audio side.

I had created a phone number where people could call in and leave recordings of their dreams. I then put the dreams onto a small AdaFruit sound board and installed that into an old rotary phone. And thus, the dream phone was born. Pick it up, and hear people’s dreams. It sat on an oilcloth with the text of the dreams laid out so that the dreams ran into each other, forming new images, much like they do.

The first piece I did for the show, which is most relevant to audio, is called Vision through Sound. It examines the way our senses intermingle to create a perception of reality. Each scene begins with a soundscape, giving your brain time and space to create an image of what it hears. Text prompts appear on screen which will alter your brain’s perception in some way. Next, an image appears to cement or shift that reality. Finally, everything dissolves away, leaving just the audio to drift from your memory.

I recommend you give it a listen with headphones as several of the recordings were captured binaurally. Curious to hear how people perceive it and how they feel about the confluence of audio, word and image.