exhibition still from Past Life Resonance

Past Life Resonance: a solo exhibition at Recology Artist in Residence Program
There is an almost imperceptible thrum to the world around us, a vibration in our everyday things and surroundings. In Past Life Resonance, Darrin Martin explores the possibilities of tuning in to these resonances embedded in the things we have thrown away. If sound is just vibrations, how might we listen to the embedded histories and internal textures of our trash? What might they tell us about how they want to be activated? Using a variety of artistic approaches, Martin taps into those secret echoes to make “the vibration of objects palpable.”
In many of the exhibited works, Martin taps into the narrative logic of found objects, drawing out the ecosystem of bits and sonic qualities they live within. In one section of the installation, the bow of a ship appears to be sinking into a sea of costume jewelry, the shiny bloom of plastic beads spreading around it. Martin uses the resonant chest of this boat half to amplify a marine soundscape–the slap of a halyard against a mast, the gurgle of activity at a marina. In another piece, he references the action movie trope of a protagonist sneaking through a building’s ventilation crawlspaces. A robotic vacuum cleaner runs through a section of ductwork with a mounted camera. These interior activities are only perceptible indirectly, through a monitor on the wall displaying the video feed and the shifting rumble as the machine trundles from one end to another.
Amidst this sonic environment, Martin also invites us to consider the silences. An array of flat screen televisions display looping views of 3D scanned children’s bikes and toy vehicles that show the wear and tear of love and use on their digital shells as they lie in the Public Reuse and Recycling Area. Even without an audio track the broken toys suggest crashes and accidents–an implied loudness. Next to the resurfaced sounds in the other pieces, the silence of this installation asks us to fill in the cacophony and imagine what embedded vibrations we might recover with our own creative tools if we observe closely enough.

exhibition still from Past Life Resonance

documentation of No Escape, 9ft air duct capped with semi-translucent plastic sheets on either end, eufy with light mounted inside, stereo receiver with 2 speakers as pedestal, stereo pair, & looped HD 5:30 min:sec video with sound

documentation of Crash Satellite, 2 broken monitors of roughly similar weight, plastic aquatic work-out equipment, & metal bin and Crash, 14 monitors of varying dimensions mounted on blue scaffolding in corner, 3D animations, & car seat  

documentation of Audio Book Cut Up Station and performance, 3 wooden school desks, 5 stacked speakers, altered screen, Alexa in a metal cage, 2 Pioneer CDJ-1000MK3 CD players & audio book CDs, Library of Congress Audio Book reader & 9 audio book cartridges, Lexicon MX200 effects box, Mackie mixer, crab net, wicker lamp shade, wind catcher, furniture structure, rope, & supporting audio wires

documentation of Land Buoy, plastic light fixtures, plastic stools, wooden base, oscillating lights with frequency & sound sensitivity controller

documentation of Bejeweled Landfall, bow of a Catalina 13 sailboat, stereo receiver, 5 transducer speakers, iPhone, costume jewelry & silver curtain bling

documentation of Domestic Bliss: Blue Boy Macramé, decorative plate, dyed macramé, ceramic tubes, plastic blocks, plastic duster, & headphones

documentation of Listening Systems, plastic shelf, window with foam holders, green glass, rechargeable egg light, infrared listening system controller, plastic alphabet beads, & egg crate

photographs courtesy of Minoosh Zomorodinia & video Amy Karle and Darrin Martin
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