Proximate Park is a sound work and performance piece for 2 rental cars created by myself and Andy Graydon. Tones and noises emitted from the vehicles interact psycho-acoustically within the garage's extreme acoustic space as the two cars circle, park, enter, and exit. Inspired by minimalist frequency experiments of American composers, Proximate Park explores the borders between public and private spaces, absence and presence, and American car culture.
Andy Graydon and I performed this piece on 10/16/2015 at Aurora Dallas, a one-night public art event that attracted more the 50,000 visitors. Not knowing the exact acoustics leading into the performance, we were pleased with the character and sound of the space. The composition at times became directionless not unlike the experience of hearing choral music in a cathedral, a sense that would rupture with the vector of a nearby moving vehicle.
The use of a car as an audio source for public art was unexpectedly interesting. Being such a personal and familiar object, the car seemed to allow a level of public interaction that is sometimes difficult with other types of public art work. While we didn't plan for people to open doors, sit in the cars, and work the audio systems, the result was a series of really personal engagements with the work that is not common for public art and extremely rare for public sound art.
