This paper describes the conceptual background, design and implementation of an interactive art installation, Cacophonic Choir, that aims to bring attention to the firsthand stories of sexual assault survivors. Cacophonic Choir addresses the ways in which their experiences are distorted by digital and mass media, and how these distortions may affect survivors. The installation comprises multiple agents, distributed in space, that are heard from afar as an incoherent cloud of murmurs. Each agent responds to a visitor's proximity by becoming more visually bright, semantically coherent and sonically clear, revealing a different personal account of a sexual assault survivor.

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© 2020 ISAST
2020
ISAST

Supplementary data

Cacophonic Choir installation (.jpeg 6 MB)

This photo is of the installation of "Cacophonic Choir" at Contemporary İstanbul/Plugin Exhibition, in September 2019. Each agent was on a 12-×-12-in pedestal at approximately ear height. Nine pedestals were organized on a 5-×-5-ft grid. (© Hannah E. Wolfe and © Şölen Kıratlı, 2019 in collaboration with Alex Bundy. Photo credit Gökhan Tugay Şeker)

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Cacophonic Choir Agents (.jpeg 4 MB)

This photo is of three agents from "Cacophonic Choir" which are made up of various hardware that are encased in a translucent silicone membrane, including a PLA (polylactic acid) based sculptural form. Some of these forms are fully contained within the membrane, while others burst outward. (© Hannah E. Wolfe and © Şölen Kıratlı, 2019 in collaboration with Alex Bundy. Photo credit Gökhan Tugay Şeker)

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Cacophonic Choir installation (.mp4 57 MB)

This video documents, “Cacophonic Choir,” an interactive art installation that addresses the ways that sexual assault survivors' experiences are distorted by digital and mass media. It is composed of distributed agents in space that individually respond by becoming visually bright, semantically coherent, and sonically clear, revealing original testimonies of survivors. (© Hannah E. Wolfe and © Şölen Kıratlı, 2019 in collaboration with Alex Bundy. Video credit Salih Tokur)

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