A digital projection on a white wall with a bench for viewing. The projection displays a collage of four images: two of them are a signer signing two different gestures, and the other two are a vocalist mouthing two different shapes. Photo credit: ARTJOG. Event: ARTJOG 2024.
Aural Architecture
Aural experiences in the form of sign language and voice
In collaboration with Jamil Haque and Gelsey Bell.
WARNING: Contains some short scenes and fast transitions.
Aural Architecture considers aural experiences originating in the mind communicated through sign language and voice. Those aural experiences (or aural gestalt) may represent either the real world or human imagination, expressed through multisensory modes and never emerging the same to everyone.
This work challenges two of the biggest misconceptions about deafness and sound: that d/Deaf people live in silence and that only hearing people can access sound. Aurally diverse people embody sound in various ways: sonic, visual, tactile, and imagination. Whatever their divergent nature, aural gestalt may be properties that d/Deaf and hearing people have in common.
Aural Architecture was inspired by 2013’s multisensory workshop in Sharjah by architect and designer Jeffrey Mansfield that investigates how “pure” sign language, which recreates the sensation of sound, allows us to listen visually.
FAQ:
The signs and the vocals were recorded separately and did not correspond to each other. The signer did not translate the vocalist’s vocals into the signs. Each of them represents aural experiences/concepts from a list of words/phrases.
The signs in this work divert from lexicalized signs (that conventionally form words/phrases).
Work details
Year created: 2022 & 2024 (English and Indonesian captions)
Format: 1-channel video and joint stereo audio
Resolution: 2160 x 1080
Duration: 8 minutes 18 seconds
About the collaborators
Jamil Haque is an instructor and teacher of American Sign Language at Sign Language Center in New York City, New York. A Deaf person, he loves meeting new faces and teaching ASL and Deaf cultures.
Gelsey Bell is a Brooklyn-based vocalist, composer, and scholar. She has released multiple albums, toured internationally, and received awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Opera America, the Japan Foundation, and others. Her recent works include the soundwalk Cairns and the dance-music work shuffleyamamba. She is currently a resident artist at the HERE Arts Center where she is developing the opera mɔːnɪŋ.
Cast
Concept: Jay Afrisando
Signer: Jamil Haque
Vocalist: Gelsey Bell
Project Manager: Terry Perdanawati
Composer, Film Editor, and Recording & Mixing Engineer: Jay Afrisando
Camera Operator: Arif Angga
Camera Assistant: Cahya Haniva
Sign language recorded at Sign Language Center, NYC, NY on 17 December 2021
Voice recorded at Harvestworks Audio Studio, NYC, NY on 18 December 2021
Many thanks to Gamin, Michael Duffy, and STRUM (Sound, Technology, and Research at the University of Minnesota) Electronic Music Studios.
This project production was supported by the Jerome Foundation through the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship 2021-22.
Exhibition
ARTJOG 2024 (group exhibition), Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 28 June - 1 September 2024.
A visitor watches a video projection of a collage of one signer and four identical singers. A photo is captioned with white text that reads, “ARTJOG Motif Ramalan, Aural Architecture by @jay_afrisando.” Photo: ARTJOG. Event: ARTJOG 2024.
A group of visitors watches the video projection. A person whispers visual descriptions to several seated blind visitors. Photo: ARTJOG. Event: ARTJOG 2024.
Two visitors watch a video projection of a signer and a singer. Photo: ARTJOG. Event: ARTJOG 2024.
Two visitors watch a video projection currently showing the work’s description. Two of them are seated while the others stand and flank the entrance. Photo: Cecilia Elma (ARTJOG). Event: ARTJOG 2024.
A view from the entrance to a projection room. The projection reads, “Aural Architecture, Arsitektur Aural.” A white bench is waiting to be seated. Photo: Jay Afrisando. Event: ARTJOG 2024.
A view from the entrance to a projection room. The projection shows a signer and a vocalist. A white bench is waiting to be seated. Photo: Jay Afrisando. Event: ARTJOG 2024.
The work label in the form of vinyl cuts attached to the wall corner. Photo: Jay Afrisando. Event: ARTJOG 2024.