Listening Bar
Lauren Tortil, La Grenette de la Ferme-Asile, Sion
Listening Bar is a situation performed by Lauren Tortil, inspired by the eponymously-named Japanese audiophile bars that the artist discovered during her visits to Japan in 2023 and 2024. These bars - small, windowless and dimly lit - invite a dozen or so consumers to sip their drinks in silence, while listening to music selected by the owner of the space, in front of a pair of high-quality speakers.
This situation, given the configuration of the venue and its limited seating capacity, is conducive to an experience of active, shared listening, while inviting listeners to remain silent. While silence fully contributes to concentration and joint attention, the proposed situation plays on sound perceptions through superimposition: the presence of consumers and the activity of the barmaid preparing cocktails (crushed ice, shaker, etc.) mingle with the audio recordings broadcast.
This situation is akin to the experience of a real-time sound montage made up of recorded sound sources and improvised acoustic sources. A sound montage that solicits two simultaneous listenings: that of the recordings (schizophonic listening) and that of the acoustic space.
