FOLLOWER / MARA ERIN STALLER

FOLLOWER is a work about signal flow. During quarantine, I’ve felt my life increasingly controlled by information systems. This control is manifest in the dissemination of sound through speakers, and the recording/manipulation of sounds through microphones, and so these two points of connection are the focus of the work. Sounds from electrical machinery, phones, social media apps, field recording, and code rise and fall in patterns of anxiety and distraction. The structure of the piece mirrors a journey in transit between two bedrooms, where I stop and start wearing headphones, logging on and off. These separate soundscapes interact and intersect throughout the piece. Although these networks are often viewed as alienating spaces, I see them as a space of intimacy. I hope you can feel this intimacy while listening.