9 INCHES

(2 x Audio, 3 min 01 secs and 2 min 54 secs, JUNE 2015)

 

“There are four distances at which people interact, corresponding to four types of encounter. Intimate friends interact at nought to eighteen inches”.

(Cook, M. Interpersonal Perception, 1971)

 

9” is an interactive audio situation that examines observation and signalling within an encounter between two people. It heightens the individuals reflexivity toward their own and others social rhythms that can otherwise be unknowingly enforced and accepted on a daily basis. 9” questions the pre-conceived notion of an intimate human situation.

 

It is two chairs, each with separate audio. Two people sit down facing each other and listen.

 

Chair 1 audio is an instruction on observing the person in front of you.

Chair 2 audio is the sound of a woman during the climax of sex.

 

Neither of the people in the encounter are aware of what the person sat across from them is listening to, creating the potential for a suspended space of 'not knowing' or misinterpretation of signals.

 

The installation aims to heighten an individuals self awareness and awareness of physical, emotional behaviour in others. It looks at the possible social taboos of sexual intimacy, appropriate spatial relationships and prolonged scrutiny of others.