This installation was inspired by ripple tanks used in physics to study wave propagation. The ripple tank is a shallow glass tank of water. Light illuminates the water, and the water’s shadow is projected onto a wall. As ripples are made their behaviors can be observed from their shadows. How these waves behave with one another can be applied to light and sound waves.
Wave Propagation Between two Absolutes aims to materialize language similar to the how a ripple tank aims to materialize waves. The sound component is a conversation between a father and daughter. The father desperately wants to record the child’s knowledge of language by asking her to sing the “ABC’s”. The child however, does not. In this conversation, there is an exchange of language but also a silent language. A kind of communication that is much more complex than our spoken language. The mono filament in between the two speakers performs the vibrations of the conversation.
Wave Propagation between 2 Absolutes from carolinevalites on Vimeo.
