(Courtesy of Dupont Underground)
The visual spectacle of an abandoned trolley station is part of what made Raise/Raze such a hot ticket last year. But the latest art installation to come to this mid-century cavern focuses on something that won’t be as conducive to selfies: sound.
“When you walk through the 75,000-square-foot space,” explains David Ross, the managing director of Dupont Underground, “you realize you’re walking through history that has not been tapped. When you’re operating in a space that was open for the trolley from 1947-1963, and a space where the homeless lived in the ’90s, you realize there are a plethora of stories that have unfolded here. That’s what Eric’s going to be doing.”
The Wind That Blows Is All Anybody Knows was created by installation artist Eric Dickson, a political science professor at New York University who was trained as a theoretical physicist.
Dickson has developed site-specific sound installations in challenging locations before. In a 2014 piece in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, he placed antique wardrobes that broadcast “parables” about a desert journey. Last year, he presented a fragmented narrative on New York’s Governor’s Island.
Taking its title from Thoreau, Dickson’s new work presents fictional monologues and ambient sound effects that will emerge from speakers mounted around the Underground. Viewers will wander through the tunnels to listen in. The monologues take on themes of, “arrival, departure, and abandonment, based on the space’s history as a once-thriving interchange that eventually fell out of use,” according to Dickson’s website.
The use of sound rather than potentially distracting visuals may allow visitors to become even more immersed in the space’s history—but not without some disorientation.
In terms of speaker placement, “everywhere is fair game,” explains Dupont Undergound’s Art Director Noel Kassewitz, “from the ceiling to the smallest cracks and fissures within the space, so it will be up to the viewer to discover all their hidden locations.”
The Wind That Blows Is All Anybody Knows runs from April 7-May 12 at Dupont Underground, 1500 19th Street NW. $15. Get tickets here.
Listen to an audio clip (Courtesy of Dupont Underground)
