a multimedia installation
by Maya Kristianna and Riley Samantha Murray
The Process
Choosing a location
First, we needed to find a space to build a multimedia installation that was convenient, free or within a small budget, and non-intrusive to other humans or life. This led us to a non-traditional performance space: the storage basement of the Honors Tutorial College. It was hardly used, free, and within walking distance to our school and house.
Gathering the materials
We focused on the surrounding communities to gather materials for the installation. We asked local residents to donate items that they would otherwise throw away or donate and dumpster-dove for recyclable materials. Craft shops, art studios, and local antique stores proved to be of great resource in our collection process. We strategically stuffed the items collected into a limited amount of storage space until we found the permanent installation space. In each trip to collect donations, we talked to and recorded conversations with the community members about their stuff. We asked them questions like:
When, where, and why did you get these items?
Why are you giving them away?
Have you tried to get rid of them previously?
Do you have any memories or anecdotes surrounding one or more of the items?
Are you the type of person to hold sentiment in material objects, or is it relatively easy for you to let them go?
Building an installation sculpture
In building the installation sculpture, the materials we collected and the discussions we had with donors provided most of the inspiration. Motifs and themes for the space grew organically from the kinds of things we collected and from our recorded conversations. Some themes we followed throughout the building process were repurposing, layering, stuffing, crowding, and excess. Out of the things we collected, a large number of screens, like TV’s, computers, mirrors, and windows, about ten large garbage bags of picture frame corners, reflective material like emergency blankets and shiny metals, and shredded paper were significant within our thematic material and in the architecture the space.
Creating the movement score
Next, we created a movement score inspired by our interactions and recorded discussions with the donors to be performed in the installation space, surrounded by the sculpture. We personalized their stories by creating a series of gestures inspired by specific words or phrases that were reminiscent of physical or emotional qualities. For example, “…seem a little fragmented,” which is a quote by our friend and project donor, Brian Christi, could suggest quick, choppy movements due to the word “fragmented”.
Creating the soundscape
We began working on the sound for the piece with four designers, Harper Reese, Benjamin Baker, Conner Cook, and Michael Boston. Using the same themes we used for building the sculpture, they created an endless string of layered sounds that both could or could not be associated with items in the sculpture or the basement environment. This brought life to the space and added a layer of mystery and intrigue to the experience. Each of our sound artists created a 20-30 min. soundscape inspired by found sounds such as ripping fabrics, breaking wood, rain, and everyday actions. We combined these individual works into a sound software called Max, a visual programming language for music and multimedia. With this, the soundscape was non-linear and changed in real-time based on manually-assigned probabilities.
Creating a costume
Riley created a series of costumes that reflect the main elements and materials that we used to build the sculpture: ordinary, everyday objects, layers, and shredded paper. We wore the costumes for several videos that we filmed to document the project.
In each set of costumes, we are wearing several layers of regular clothing in an unexpected, impractical fashion, which aligns with the re-imagining and layering of everyday objects in the sculpture. The various sets coordinate and follow a specific color or pattern story. For example, one of the pairs features a diverse range of patterns and cool colors like blues and greens.
In order to incorporate the shredding from the sculpture, one pair of costumes in the series each include one garment that she randomly cut up to look like they were shredded.
Creating video projections
Maya created two video dances with help from cinematographers Brian Christi and Steven Lee that were originally going to be projected into the space as a way to honor the creation process of the piece and add another compositional layer of shape and structure through light, shadow, and motion. Due to COVID-19, these videos will instead be uploaded to view on this website. The first is a documentation of the donations and the storage spaces to introduce the idea of navigating a body through crowded spaces. The second is a representation of what could have been the audience’s experience of the live version.
