In his latest work, In Residence 6, composer, sound artist and designer Yann Novak explores the subtle but highly emotive relationship between sound, narrative, and location. The installation takes the form of a 4.1 channel audio piece with speakers distributed throughout the gallery and a single channel video accompaniment projected in large format onto the gallery’s vast wall.
Specifically coinciding and contrasting with L.A.’s drought-ridden and hottest summer months, In Residence 6 focuses on the rain-soaked month Novak spent at the Espy Foundation artist residency in Oysterville, Washington in the fall of 2007. Taking on the steady drone of the constant rain as its point of departure, the installation explores the artist’s response to this prolonged period of rain through the construction of an emotive auditory environment that is melancholic and meditative. While never dictating emotion, Novak creates a minimalist representation of his response to feeling trapped in the damp and flooded landscape, translating the literal to the romantic and visceral.