refrigeration

The image above shows the refrigeration apparatus being constructed. It consists of a speaking tube, three valves, and three long lengths of crooked pipes ending in aluminum cones.

I begin the piece by lighting a candle that sits in each of the cones. Then I sit on the floor and begin speaking a text into the tube. As I speak, my voice travels through the pipes and comes out the cones. I can control the path that my voice takes through the pipes by opening and closing the valves. When the voice reaches a cone, it makes the candle flicker. The audience can tell which of three pathways I am currently speaking through by watching the movement of the candles.

The pipes filter my voice as I speak, and when it finally reaches the cones the text that I have spoken is unintelligible. All that remains is the muffled rhythm of my speech.