Perri Howard

Sound as a spatial force

Project Proposed: “Sound as a Spatial Force” My proposed project investigates sound as a spatial force relative to the landforms and architecture of the Gralheira Mountain Region. During my time in residence, I will gather field recordings and collaborate across disciplines with other participants to analyze and convey the “sonicsignature” of this very unique place. My investigation will focus on thresholds where town meets country, public meets private, and where surface conditions yield to the subterranean. I have a particular interest in exploring the cisterns, caves, and passage ways that may be present, to record the haunting melodies such spaces hold. This work will culminate in a multi-channel audio installation that will convey sound as a spatial force where one place comes to inhabitan other place, the gallery setting for this work.

Perri Howard is a Seattle-based artist. Her work examines the relationship between human perception and sense of place. Issues of navigation, intuition, and physical proximity are key components of these investigations. Through combined techniques in sound, light, sculpture, and image, Perri explores many attributes of a place simultane ously. Perri’s public artworks draw attention to thresholds where land meetssky, sea meets shore, and where one’s inner landscape converges with the outside world. Emphasis is placed on the human need to explore, revealing familiar contextsin a new light. Recent permanent, publicart projects include: The Seattle Center Skateboard Park, sculptural light installations for two LEED fire stations, and an arts integrated rails-to-trails master plan for Redmond, WA. In addition to her studio practice and public artworks, Perri performs with the Seattle Phonographers Union and has completed residencies in South India as a Fulbright Scholar, as well ascompleting projects on location in Italy, Portugal, and The Amazon. Since receivingher MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2001, she has served as a visiting artistat many colleges and universities and is currently Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission Public Art Advisory Committee. Her favorite instrument is a handheld compass.