If I were a reviewer...

Review of Kyle Kulik’s IP Project

Editors Stephanie Rowden and Hannah Smotrich

“Happy New Yeeeaaarrr”, exclaimed a cheerful woman. I heard another person laughing and it was loud, as if that person was very close to me. My eyes were closed and as I heard these sounds, I imagined overhearing a celebration of a new year. “It’s almost 2012 and what year were you born?” “1912”, one of them responds. “So that’s, your going to be how old this year?” “Aaaaa, 59”, said the person that sounded the closest to me. Both women laughed at the response. “Good answer.” “This is your big year coming up.” “I’m going to ignore it.”

This was a part of a series of audio recordings and I heard it at the University of Michigan 2012 Senior Art & Design Show, which was titled Synthesis. After admiring the work of many of the students, I walked down into the lower floor of Work. I immediately saw a room divided from the entire space that looked very different. It was as if a suburban Victorian house was attached to the gallery and I had just walked into a room of the house.

So, there I was within a quite room in the basement of Work Gallery and I reclined in a floral cushioned chair, a chair my grandmother would have owned. Along with this chair there was an old wooden drawer, a lamp stand with an antique lamp, and various images. Next to the chair on the lamp stand there was headphones, the kind that cover your entire ears. I placed the headphones on my head and listened. I spent 30 minutes in that room listening and reflecting. I overheard the lives of two women and their relationship, Brenda and Mrs. Johnston. I heard them speak together and separately; I heard the sounds of the city around them. I began to realize Brenda’s role as a caregiver and I heard Mrs. Johnston’s assertion of her independence in a time when she depends upon friends and family.

The recordings placed me in the environment of two people I did not know. I listened to the intimate sounds and I heard the perspective of two women. I thought, “what will I do when my parents need care and what is it like to be dependent upon others?”