26 or less by Jennifer Lindsay

PERFORMANCE DATES

August 1 7pm-8pm
August 3 7pm-8pm
August 8 7pm-8pm

Capacity is limited. Register at no charge for tickets here: https://www.universe.com/events/26-or-less-tickets-78MZQ4

ARTIST STATEMENT

In Denielle Elliott’s essay, View of Neurological Disturbances and Time Travel, she writes about her personal experience with anomic aphasia. Mostly invisible to outsiders, anomic aphasia is a language disorder that presents as trouble with word-finding. Instead of practicing vigilant memory recall or feeling embarrassed, Elliott encourages a playful approach to time stuck between words. Situated in 26 or less, I am thinking about what play means for me, my acquired brain injury community, and those outside it.

26 or less is an interactive sound and video art lab that asks what trouble with word-finding sounds like when we make the conscious decision to play.

Activated by motion sensor devices hidden within the lab, a primary soundscape can be heard playing on a loop. It begins with a speaker saying, “I am drawing a blank, I am trying to find the word, I forgot” and other phrases in relation to word loss, memory techniques, and phenomena. The speaker is joined by others repeating the same phrases. As more speakers join in, voices are heard in unison, as well as interrupting, and overlapping each other.

Visitors to 26 or less will be encouraged to add to the primary soundscape by making personal recordings of their own. Leading to a mini-recording booth, directions on how to participate will be provided by way of vinyl signage and floor dots. The mini-recording booth will be set up with a touchscreen computer, electronic informed consent form, as well as a script originally used for the primary soundscape. If consented to, lab recordings will be added to the primary soundscape in real-time. A video of fluctuating CT scans will be projected on the walls of Charles Street Video with the real-time soundscape.

Rooted in communal knowledge making, this project draws on the intersections of feminist science and technology studies, disability, and sonic ethnography.

This work has been made with the generous support of Charles Street Video.

Created by Jennifer Lindsay (director and producer), in collaboration with: Naveed Ahmed (sound editor), Scott Buckingham (developer), Dan Tapper (spatial audio designer), as well as the numerous future visitors to 26 or less.


ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jennifer Lindsay is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher based in Toronto, Canada. Her work centers on the social consequences of a body in pain. A writer, director, producer, and hand-maker, her projects are rooted in theatre, film, ceramics, and sound. In recent years, she founded a company which supports the work of artists and activists alike.

At the intersection of art and science, her research interests include communication disorders with acquired brain injury, crip time, and disability justice. For her master’s research, she is currently conducting a social study of neuroscience and anomic aphasia through sonic ethnography.

 2024