Sound Island
Arc de Triomphe, Paris, 1994.
In this installation created for the city of Paris and Ministry of Culture, the natural white noise of the sea off a rugged cliff on France's Normandy coast was transmitted live, via underwater hydrophones and microphones, to hidden loudspeakers on the facade of the Arc de Triomphe.
The sound of waves crashing against rocks masked the loud traffic noise of the immense roadway around the monument and provided a new and unexpected sense of place, time, memory and dimension. This was made especially poignant as the installation occurred during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landing at Normandy and the liberation of Paris.
