Jessica Feldman

" ... into the porches of their ears I pour." (2004)

“…in the porches of their ears I pour.” *

This is an interactive, site-specific sound piece for participating listeners and performers.  It was written to be heard while sitting on the sidewalk facing oncoming traffic at the southernmost tip of Chelsea Waterside Park, which is located on a pedestrian island between the West Side Highway and 10th Avenue, at West 23rd Street, in New York City.

Performers’ Instructions:

1. Each performer should sit on the large patch of sidewalk at the southernmost tip of the park, facing oncoming traffic.  There should be enough space in front of each performer for one listener to sit.  Performers should have their fingernails cut short, and should not be wearing any jewelry on their hands or wrists that could make noise.
2. The piece should begin with an announcement, verbal or written, that each listener/audience member should go and sit in front of a performer.  They should be notified that the performers will be touching their faces and ears.  If the audience is too large for each listener to be matched with a performer, the listeners should experience the piece in shifts.
3. The sonic substance of this piece is the ambient noise surrounding this site.  The performer’s role is to filter this noise by covering, blocking, cupping, etc. the ears of the listeners.  The type of operation to be performed on the listeners’ ears depends upon the behavior of the traffic surrounding the site.  The traffic is regulated by a cycle of stoplights.  Thus, the performer’s instructions are based on the lights and also are cyclical.
4. Begin by reaching in front of the listener’s face and slowly closing his or her eyes (this should take about 3 seconds.)
5. Then, slowly move your hands back to the listener’s ears and cover the tragus (that flap of flesh that sticks into the cavity of the ear) with flat hands.  Do this for about five seconds, and then begin the cycle of instructions below.  Pickup at whatever point in the cycle corresponds to the behavior of the traffic at the moment.

The Cycle

-with the approach of oncoming traffic
Slowly press in the tragus with the first few fingers of your hand.  Allow your fingers also to cover the cavity of the ear.  Start pressing in the tragus as traffic begins approaching.  It should be completely pressed down by the time the sound of the traffic hits you.

-with oncoming traffic
Continue opening and closing the tragus in the same fashion as above.  Alternate irregularly between patterned, regular pressing/releasing and sustained pressing or sustained opening.

-with the end of oncoming traffic
Block the listener’s ears by pressing in the tragus with one fingertip.
           
-with the beginning of the motion of traffic on your left
Flatten your hands and move them so that they are flush with and very close to the listener’s ears, without covering them.  Do not press the ears closed.  Move your hands farther out, so that they still are parallel to the listener’s ears, but no longer as close.  Repeat this motion rapidly, varying your rate of motion throughout.
           
-as traffic slows on your left and becomes more sporadic
Continue as above, but more slowly.  As the sound of a passing car hits you, cover the listener’s ears suddenly (but gently) with your flattened hands.  After the car passes, resume the previous motion until you are hit by the sound of another car.  Continue this alternation with each passing car.
           
-when the left traffic light, facing you, turns red
Cup your hands over the listener’s ears.

(After this point, oncoming traffic approaches.  Go back to the beginning of the cycle.)

6. Continue with the cycle for as long as you feel comfortable.  Be sure to complete it at least once.
7. Finish the piece by again sliding your hands to the front of the listener’s face and lifting their eyelids.

copyright © Jessica Feldman, 2004 - 2010