Footsteps

	Footsteps - 2002

	"Footsteps" transports and spatially rearranges the sounds of traffic on a public staircase. Physical footsteps on the stairs structure a composition which is unpredictable on a small scale, yet ordered on a larger scale by the rhythmic movement of people from space to space. Two microphones on each step pick up the stepping sound which is amplified and routed to one of 16 speakers suspended from the ceiling in an adjacent enclosed space. The stairs are not visible from the space, and the space is not visible from the stairs. Only by stepping back and viewing the space as a whole does the system become apparent. Installed for six weeks, the installation became part of its environment, familiar and perhaps anticipated in traversal of the building. Ever changing but with an underlying sense of order, "Footsteps" transforms the 'viewer' into a participant who steps, listens, and detects patterns.