Menjejak Jejak (Retracing Traces) is a sound installation that contains 9 soundscapes presented in chunks of soil scattered in the exhibition space, which are configured to let the audience compose their own aural experience.
This work is the development of my recent project named “Buru Bunyi” at Rumah Tangga residency program. The project presented an instruction manual to reach specific listening spots that could be experienced by all the senses. The instruction manual reflects the journey of becoming awakened through the ‘grounding’ process. At every spot, the audience was asked to write their own experience/ narration during the exploration.
In Buru Bunyi, I’ve been thinking that visiting a space could create a new narration above the previous stories that have been there. This is also the same as the previous person who had been there. This land has its layers of narrative, and Buru Bunyi subtly attempt to preserve them. I collected the audience’s stories and interpreted them into 9 soundscapes in Menjejak Jejak.
The soundscapes in Menjejak Jejak are a trigger for the audience to invent their own narrative from the existing composed narratives in the exhibition space. The object configuration at the exhibition space represents the experience of exploring Buru Bunyi at Rumah Tangga, from one listening spot to another, to compose the experience in that aural experience, to invent their lore. I intend to create a new layer of narration for the audience at the exhibition space, so it might be like attaching new footprints above the existing ones.