Someone is listening is an audio-reactive video installation done with techniques learned in the Experimental Media Techniques course. The work cycles through different visual phases, all of which react to the sounds in the exhibition space. When it is busy, it progresses fast, but when it is quiet, it may stay the same for hours. Perhaps someone will stay to yell at it. The elements in the work are randomized so that it looks different on each cycle.

The themes behind this work include sensory overflow, isolation, and anxiety, but also more positive concepts like a connection through language and the vitalizing effect of sound. It is important for us to feel connected and speak to each other, but we can also feel overwhelmed by all the noise and pointless talking.

Sometimes certain things might seem perfectly fine until we bring them to scrutiny and try to describe them in words. In the same sense, you might think the image generated by the installation looks perfect, but then it is ruined when someone makes a sound. Then again, the installation won’t come alive and show new sides of itself, unless someone connects with it.