This sound installation required a visitor to place his/her head inside a large white box by way of a hole cut in the bottom. The box was sound and light proof, allowing the listener to be alone and singularly engaged with the piece, even in a crowded room. The performative action of placing ones head inside a closed environment was quite intimidating for many visitors to this work, one had to commit to interacting with the installation, while not being aware of who was watching, or how one looked in this interaction. The sound that the individual would experience was a composition of coughs, sighs, laughs, umms and other vocal sounds dissected from recordings of conversation. Each conversation had been recorded in a close encounter with the speaker, a one-on-one interaction between the speaker and myself during the course of one week.

This sound was broadcast from four speakers surrounding the listener’s head. This created the effect of surround sound, voices would be heard and dissipate from different corners of the contained space. The experience of one’s head being engaged in a distinctly different environment to one’s body (usually a busy gallery) was compelling, and sometimes difficult for visitors to the piece – some found it disorientating, some kept returning to listen again.