Geologists find their bearings by means of natural points of reference located along the terrain. These points generally stand out from the rest of the terrain and are called amers (landmarks). By identifying three such landmarks in complementary directions, the geologist is able to construct a triangle that inevitably includes his/her position. This method is called Triangulation. The sound installation Displaced takes up the principle of triangulation and substitutes site specific sound recordings (information elements that can be recognized by listening carefully) for visual landmarks.

 

The installation is an attempt to construct a triangle in a fictive, virtual space on the basis of sound recordings of train journeys in India, Canada and United Kingdom. The installation is a critique on the position of sound in space, constantly in flux and vacillating between orientation and uncertainty. By replaying the recordings in the installation space, we take into consideration their spatial behavior as an integral element of the composition of the space. The sounds signify and embody the ideas of movement and flux in contrast to the motionless and featureless ambience of the gallery. The recordings of the train journeys are country specific and evoke a strong sense of location, but that location is in a constant state of transformation. Relocating the sounds from their “natural” acoustic environment into the white cube creates an interesting interplay. The recording and particularly the spatialization do not depend on the site of installation. However, the restitution of what has been fixed in the studio depends on the ambient listening conditions of the site.

 

The sounds were both preselected as well as discovered coincidently. They include the passengers talking, the intercom announcements and the sounds of the train engine. They were selected because of their innate, acoustic and musical qualities, which contributed the recording a specific, irreversible image. The sounds were then edited and selected keeping in mind to preserve the quality that already existed while making the recording. Within the gallery the recordings can be heard on headphones mounted on the walls. The headphones were mounted on specific positions in the gallery to create a triangular shape within the space.