Coloured and Choosing - An Immersive Gender Sound Installation
© Nina Buttendorf
Duration: 20 minute blind folded aural experience
Coloured and Choosing was developed as part of the
bangaloREsidency-Expanded in collaboration with
Wisp Kollektiv, Leipzig.
In this blindfolded 3D sound installation, the audience experiences the personal and the political in a gender space. The space is layered with over 30 sound sources, each transforming from the personal voice to the political, inviting the audience to tune into their gender frequency.
I landed at WISP Kollektiv at the end of July and I was quite curious about their work and very eager to meet with all of them. In my opinion, Wisp is truly an interdisciplinary arts organisation. While Felix was busy installing cricket sounds in a cave, Paul & Emma were trying to programme gestures into multimedia visuals and Nina was rigorously documenting every part of the work. My initiation into the 3D Sound Lab was exciting and intimidating. I think after the first session with Felix, I understood the possibilities of 3D sound.
My work at the residency involved creating a dramaturgical narrative as a starting point to the sound experience. Felix and I mapped out various possibilities of sound sources and audience placements. This helped me think of the soundscape as layers. Hence the narrative also evolved in layers from the intimate moving towards the political.
My own gender and life experiences, coupled with Hindu mythology, found voices and interviews became the source of material for the project. Along with the support of my sound collaborator MT Aditya, I composed a sequence of moments that included judgements, perceptions, poetry, slice-of-life events, love letters and interviews of fellow artists, friends and acquaintances. Felix and I spent time in the studio placing the compositions in a 3D environment.
We invited the audience to experience the audio performance. Their feedback was valuable and made me understand how the performances were individualised by the audience and how each member’s experience was unique.
And yes, we had fun dosa parties and German spaetzle parties and chill on the farm parties too as part of my stay in Leipzig. A big thank you to
Goethe-Institut Bangalore for enabling this process. Immensely grateful.