Jessica Feldman (Communication, Media, and Culture):聽Sound Lab Projects & Research:聽Hold Up Half the Sky聽& related pedagogical research聽
听听
Hold Up Half the Sky聽is聽a聽sound and video installation project,聽which uses聽virtual reality/3D聽audiovisual聽techniques to create an immersive installation consisting of video and sound shot while walking in protests in a handful of international cities, especially Paris. Instead of headsets, the piece uses 3D/VR and spatialized audio techniques to create an immersive space that viewers can enter, changing the typical isolation of VR technology into a communal space. The installation contrasts the raucous, human, emotional sounds of protest with visuals of the slow, ephemeral, drifting clouds and changing light, also protecting and conflating the identities of the protestors by avoiding any human imagery. The past years have been exciting and active for civil society in Paris, and the role civic/participant media has been important to documenting and understanding the current movements. This piece provides a space to witness, experience, and consider the tensions of remoteness versus participation, of witnessing versus -- or as a type of -- intervention. The project comments on the fetishization of 鈥渢he virtual,鈥 the isolation encouraged by VR gaming, the role of the gallery in political activism, and the question of remote participation in political protest.听听
Alongside聽this聽projects, Feldman acquired necessary tools and planned workshops on related digital media/critical making skills聽including:聽speaker design, circuit building and bending for sound and interactivity, physical computing, soldering, and interactive video.听听聽