Artist Statement
ERICA DUFFY-VOSS
Artist Statement
Communication is the process of expressing an idea by the use of words, sounds, gestures, and body movement. We translate these words and actions to make meaning. However, the meaning of words and actions is not concrete; it is dependant upon history and culture, the context in which the words and actions are used, and our past experiences. Communication is not a process of transporting ideas, but rather transforming them.
Each individual constructs meaning through the experiences had throughout his or her life. The differences in our experiences and the way these shape our interpretation of the world around us can lead to miscommunication. This could be as simple as misunderstanding what a person is trying to say through the words they use. There may also be a gap in our experience, which does not provide us with a frame of reference for reacting to a new experience. When we stare at a disfigured body, speak more loudly to the person who is blind, or mimic the person who stutters, it is not the body or the blindness or the speech that is the disruption to communication, but our perception of its deviance from our construct of knowledge.
The psychological space between two interacting people is difficult to describe, yet it is an active zone in which meaning is transformed, interpreted, and made. The phenomena that disrupt communication are even harder to identify. It is these phenomena that I give visual and concrete form as objects relating to the body.
These objects take many forms: industrial hoses that connect people in communication, steel pins that hit a person on the vocal tract as they speak, and objects that react to body movement and sound. Each is designed to generate an experience in which communication is altered or disrupted by the object, heightening a person’s awareness of their voice, sound, movement, and body. The body is central to these experiences. Our physical bodies allow us to interface with the world; regardless of our background, history, or culture, we understand physical experiences innately through the physical body.
These experiences promote critical reflection upon one’s thoughts, values, beliefs, and assumptions by creating an environment that draws attention to the disruption of communication. Just as our past experiences have helped form our construct of meaning, so, too, these new experiences become a part of how we interpret our environment and reflect upon the process of communication.