The Listening Room

The “Asklepion” in ancient Greece was a complex of different healing environments. In the etruscan culture, the “Templum” is a space separated from the rest of the world, an observation post, where rituals are performed. In Mesoamerican culture the “Temascal” is a sweat lodge visited by sick people and new mothers. In medieval Ireland, as part of their training poets were required to stay in dark rooms for several days before receiving poetry. John Cage’s use of an anechoic chamber, a room without external noise or internal echoes, was a key moment of revelation in his investigation of silence. 

These are places where a specific combination of aesthetic conditions enable deep levels of awareness and its inherent healing properties to alchemize. How do these various environments and modalities facilitate shifts in consciousness? What determines the potency of a healing ritual? How do collective experiences of these practices enhance their potential for healing? 

The first step will be exploring the performative practices and conditions of different healing traditions. Based on this initial research we will experiment first hand sound, color, temperature, movements, to further embody our findings. In turn this will form a constellation of references that may be drawn upon in the creation of multidimensional, beneficial artwork for our current time and place.