Frequency And Volume, Barbican
A few weeks back I went to see Frequency and Volume
at the Barbican Curve. It was an exhibition I later had to leave under embarassing circumstances.
To explain:
When you go in there are a lot of projector lights arranged to cast your shadow against the wall. As you move around the movement of your shadow changes the tuning of radios (from commercial stations to police channels to static). It was all wonderfully interesting and fun to experiment with.
Eventually I had worked my way far enough to encounter another person. He was a middle aged man and seemed utterly engrossed in the work, standing close to the wall deep in thought. I, conversely, was closer to the projector lights and casting quite a large shadow.
Without engaging my brain I raised my arms (as shown in the illustration below) and pretended to be a giant monster about to eat my fellow gallery visitor…
Interpretation of Frequency And Volume by me
To say that he looked utterly horrified would be putting it mildly. In fact he shot me a look so full of appalled disbelief I found myself wondering if perhaps I had chosen to pretend to be Godzilla in the presence of the only person in the world to be undergoing counselling after a giant Japanese dinosaur attack.
He then turned on his heel and fled the gallery. As it happened the direction for the exit was the same as for the gallery security people and I spent a good few minutes wondering how I was actually going to explain myself and whether I could be forcibly ejected from the Barbican. Fortunately there was no such confrontation meaning I had only ruined his visit and not my own.
More people arrived soon after so I decided not to tempt fate and to leave before I could be firmly escorted.
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