body electric was the first outcome of ongoing research into the psycho-physiological effects of sound and environmental manipulation of humans. It consisted of a darkened room constructed out of pure white fabric. This intense environment covered the floor, walls and ceiling enveloping the individual in a white void like space. Beneath the floor were situated 70 foot activated switches so as users moved around in the environment they triggered high intensity low frequency sound and various other high frequency sonic content. Movement around the space also actuated high intensity strobe lighting that, due to the combination of the normal darkened state of the room and the material construction, illuminated the space with great intensity at frequencies around 15 Hz. The combination of these environmental factors created a rather disorientating environment in which the individual was subjected to extreme sensorial overload.

Throughout the exhibition period of 2 weeks, the floor covering became progressively dirtier as it too was constructed out of white fabric and the subsequent the volume of human traffic slowly left their mark. One of the curious legacies of this was tyre tracks around the space that would indicate that an individual rode their bike interacting with the sonic environment via tyres over feet and also a series of dog paw prints that would indicate frolicking canine composition....

Dimensions: Variable

Material: White Linen, 4 X Jands Superstrobe, 2 X 1300 Watt EV Deltamax Subs, 2 X AudioTech Top Boxes, 70 floor sensors, Power Macintosh, 2 X amplifiers, 1 X Mixer, Relays, Several hundred meters of cable.

Date: November 1998