“An analysis of experiential form can also extend beyond the perceptual categories of loudness and clarity. For instance, the act of walking towards a speaker contains a psychological dimension: the visitor is encouraged (due to the lack of barriers in the room) to explore an unfamiliar environment until arriving at the object of attention and investigating it from a more intimate perspective. Depending on the placement of the speaker, various experiential affects can be afforded: pressing one’s ear against a speaker reproducing quiet sounds and mounted at head-height is considerably more intimate than looking up at an inaccessible (and perhaps imposing) speaker mounted overhead.“
A look at the way in which speaker placement affects the way in which the audience interacts with the sound installation provides a contextual more 3-dimensional image and narrative of gallery space than one might initially perceive. Where the speaker is placed in relation to the initial introduction of the piece to the listener affects the way in which the piece is perceived – as well as the way the listener moves/does not move. This is different to say a performance space, where the listener is more than likely fixed in one postion from the sets inception to its end.
“Due to limited time in the installation space, it is unlikely most visitors will perceive macro-scale developmental arc structures in full. Rather, depending on the temporal frame enacted by the visitor –the points at which they choose to enter and leave the installation, as well as the elapsed duration of their stay –most will only perceive fragments of macro-level structures.“
The duration in which the listener stays in the space is also important. The agency of the listener extends to how long they will stay in the gallery space as much as theyre interaction with the peice. The listener is also in a way a consumer – how much the listener ‘consumes’ the art within a set period of time can be vital to the peices exposure.