Installation commissioned by the Swiss federal art commission for the « Art en plein air 2011 » group exhibition in Môtiers, Switzerland (June 19 – September 18 2011).
Materials: concrete, plexiglas, steel, painting, plastic.
Dimensions: 8 x 3 x 1.5 m
The installation Reversible Sound Wall is an 8 meters-long transparent sound screen built according to European industrial standards for traffic noise reduction along highways in residential or natural areas.
The Wall has been erected on a peaceful forest location surrounded by a quiet and diffuse natural sound field, with no direct human made sound source at proximity. In such an environment, the visual function of the construction is highlighted, the transparent screen becoming both a frame and a mirror in the landscape.
While the title of the installation still refers to the screen original acoustic function, the 8 panels composing its structure have been assembled together facing alternatively towards both sides of the construction. As a result the wall is a perfectly symmetrical object, whose design does not reflect anymore a distinction between a potentially noisy side and another to be preserved. The visitor find herself in the position of being simultaneously both a potential noise emitter and receiver, experiencing a reversible phenomenon which cause and effect can be permuted.
The installation has been realized in collaboration with Ecoval, a local social program against long-term unemployment.