Alison Gerber

B. 1979 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Lives in Malmö, Sweden.

Projects include:

Love Songs (2002/06)

In Love Songs the viewer enters an enclosed space that is empty except for visible speakers and a wall text. The audio was recorded in an empty gallery space; the sound bounces through the recorded and actual space simultaneously. The text reads: “Explorers photographers set the precedent and, in homage, I secure a document after creating a situation that conforms to expectations. I hired an Icelandic boy to write and sing love songs for me.” The singer’s voice is sincere and sweet; the recording suggests that our love for one another was almost unbearable.

Undervattenskonsert (2004)

I invited twelve artists to make sound works for an underwater broad-cast between Sweden and Denmark. For two days bathers at Västra Hamnen in Malmö could listen to works made especially for the event. The sounds were broadcast underwater. Swimmers could hear sounds clearly through bone conduction so long as their heads were at least partially submerged. The audio from the recordings mixed with the sounds of passing boats and the splashes of other swimmers. Undervattenskonsert was a part of Laika’s karta/-terräng project.

Love Stories (2003)

Love Stories was an installation for Trondhjems Kunstforening. The audio is a recording of a Swedish man that I asked to read for me. I gave him a series of theoretical texts in English about love, and directed his reading by adding intonation marks to the text. Intonation marks are used by second language learners to help them mimic a native speaker's sense of stress and tune so that they might speak fluently. I insist on the importance of words properly spoken, and my directives make any attempt on his part to speak coherently inadequate. The audio plays quietly in the gallery at approximately conversational level; when the viewer is in the gallery they may choose to listen to the audio or ignore it. The walls of the gallery display excerpts from the reading along with the intonation marks that I had added. Café tables and chairs were set up in the gallery and patrons of the Kunstforening's popular café were able to bring their food and drink inside.

http://www.alisongerber.com