12th January 2023, London College of Communication

I found John Wynne’s lecture very interesting. I think that, socially, his work is very important and in my opinion drew vastly on the idea of human experience and emotion; creating pieces that engage with morality and sense of place mainly.

One of my favourite installation pieces that Wynne showed was his installation for 300 speakers, Pianola and vacuum cleaner, 2009. Although, of course, not being able to experience the installation in person, I found it to be almost ‘larger than life’ but also, inversely, very intimate and personal. The mere preparation in collecting so many speakers adds another dimension to the piece, showing that this was an important piece to Wynne; each speaker had a different story which adds a massive nostalgic element.

I think that there is also something to be said about the act of essentially hiding the Pianola amongst the speakers. This could be Wynne speaking of the advancement of technology, the speakers representing the vast amounts of ways sound and art can be consumed in the modern age. The antithesis of this idea however, could be that Wynne is arguing that old methods (the Pianola) are driving new methods of listenings, that the old methods are still very culturally relevant in the creation and consumption of contemporary art.

I also was very drawn to John Wynne and Tim Wainwright’s piece ‘I Am Not The Cancer’. The piece was heart-wrenching but urgent in the way that it was constructed and delivered. Whilst the content (the videos of the women with advanced breast cancer) was paramount to the piece, I found the way it was delivered to be very sensitive but effective. The audio being directed to a single chair in front of the screen for each piece is very personal. It gives listeners insight into how living with breast cancer feels. The darkened environment and low hum that engulfed the room provides a sense of discomfort, like something isn’t quite right, whilst the videos, in their brightness and openness in confession provide a sense of warmth; despite the challenges that the women face. The piece is perfect in its intent to make the general public aware.