Liquid Link

Description:

This installation piece is placed around a swimming pool. There are speakers, an amplifier and a microphone. The microphone is put in a plastic case placed underwater in the swimming pool. When a person is swimming in the pool, the microphone records the sound created underwater. This sound is also played by the speakers on the ground, so people can listen to the underwater sounds they make. Sound in water travels faster and farther than in air. For this reason, when there are a few people in the swimming pool, they have a different sense of distance from one another than they usually would have outside of the water.
Our hearing ability helps us to gauge our distance from objects. And it is an important element in keeping distance from other people. With this system, people in the swimming pool feel closer to other people in the pool than their actual distance. This installation makes people think about the real distance from one person to another.