AVVAMM, 2017

 
 

Audible Vegetable Visible Animal Magic Mineral (2017)

Audio–video installation, articule, Montréal

I developed Audible Vegetable Visible Animal Magic Mineral (AVVAMM) for The Garden of Speculations, a group exhibition at articule in Montréal. The work consisted of a floor-based installation combining houseplants, moiré-patterned textile panels with embedded speakers, a five-minute video, and prepared tuning-fork audio. Visitors were invited to sit within the structure and engage with the sound and moving image at close range.

The video component features a juvenile apple snail moving in a whirlpool generated by a small air pump. I recorded this footage in my studio at the time, a large, live–work space, which shaped the early development of the installation. The studio environment produced a specific set of relations between the materials, plants, sound, and daily routines that could not be fully replicated in the gallery context. This experience raised ongoing questions in my practice regarding how relational and process-based work changes when it moves from studio environments to public exhibition spaces.

My initial research questions for AVVAMM focused on:

  • how geophysical disruption affects living bodies across species;

  • how sound waves operate as physical indicators of material or environmental change;

  • what types of aesthetic or participatory frameworks can support public reflection on these dynamics;

  • and how sensory practices may help stabilize attention and perception in urban environments.

The installation evolved through several configurations. Early versions functioned as immersive dwellings with sound transmitted through soft underlays. I later restructured the work into modular panels to create a flexible “set,” allowing light, shadow, and sound to interact with plant forms and visitor movement. During development, I also used the installation for concentrated work and meditation and briefly conducted a live-streamed performance as part of this research phase.

For the exhibition, the components were reassembled into a semi-enclosed structure accompanied by the video of the apple snail. The installation addressed how viewers encounter layered environments composed of living organisms, technological apparatuses, and patterned visual fields. As part of the public program, I facilitated a tuning-fork workshop introducing participants to the physical and perceptual effects of different sound frequencies.

AVVAMM represents an early stage in my ongoing inquiry into multispecies relations, sensory perception, and the challenges of exhibiting relational, process-driven work. It also contributed to the development of what I describe as radicle assemblages: configurations in which materials, organisms, and human actions co-shape the conceptual and experiential dimensions of a project.