Night Chatter, 2006, is part of a series of field recordings made in Virginia by former musician Stephen Vitiello, who has recorded in locations as diverse as the World Trade Center and the Brazilian rainforest and collaborated with Nam June Paik, Scanner, and Tetsu Inoue. Here, Vitiello is interested in examining organic sound vis-à-vis the terrorist “chatter” so talked about by the intelligence services in residence in the state.
The work is broadcast in the gallery’s small rear room, which is hung with six speakers. The effect of the surround-sound forest is patently unreal and somewhat unsettling, especially when a layer of processed droning occasionally breaks through and shakes the listener out of her nature reverie. Also on view are two untitled photos of the region where Vitiello recorded and a short Super-8 transfer of a canoe trip through a previously uncharted forest territory. The visual material is a nice nod to atmosphere, but it ultimately pales in comparison with the audio, which is simply riveting. Hedera (BBB), 2006, a sculptural sound piece of tiny speakers embedded among the branches of an earthy-smelling climbing ivy plant, plays speeches by George W. Bush and Tony Blair, their voices processed to the point that they’re transformed into the sounds of a Tibetan bowl and a bell, respectively.
While Vitiello claims that his work thoroughly relates to space, the primacy and primeval-ness of the installation raises the question of whether such site-specific audio work suits the white-cube environment. In this case, it certainly adds to the claustrophobic nature suggested by the notion of “chatter,” but one can’t help but wonder about its effect if freed from the confines of the gallery.
