Vabianna Santos: Space is Noise

Noysky Projects presents Space is Noise, a solo exhibition by Vabianna Santos that explores the idea of absence and theatricality through kinetic, sound-based sculpture. Inspired by the intimate space of a teenage bedroom and sound’s ability to permeate and charge otherwise invisible areas, Space is Noise imagines a human event without the body–– allowing the viewer to complete the circuit with their own perceptions.

On display are a pair of automated sculptures that rattle, hum, and reverberate. They include an array of 27 lo-fi microphones, tied suggestively in a noose above the viewer; a pair of pink satin practice amplifiers positioned on a wooden stage above a pillowy floor; and a collection of plugs, cables and other trappings from a garage band, neatly arranged on the ground. These are the catalysts of rock ‘n’ roll dreams or a bedroom sing-along- not a sold-out stadium concert.

Appearing to take on life as the new agents of performance- the sculptures breathe and shake. Fluctuating between the electronic sounds of white noise and the clattering of vibrations, the objects are at once amorous and like the hiss and click of a life-support machine.

As in a live show, the rhythm from a speaker moves through the viewer and makes the heart pound, creating an awareness of the viewer’s own internal phases and connecting the body to the work. Space is Noise illuminates how the spaces between us reverberate like an echo chamber that oscillates between life and death.