Photography by Virginia Harold
Non-disciplinary artist Eric Ellingsen’s bright-pink Tool Shed sits in the courtyard of the Contemporary Art Museum in stark contrast to the gray concrete walls around it. Although the physical shed it visually arresting, the real focus is on the sound filling the courtyard. One is surrounded by the noise of footsteps, sirens, and car engines. These are the sounds of the neighborhood immediately surrounding CAM. Through this multi-phase project, the artist is hoping to better understand this community, how we process sound, and the history of segregation in St. Louis.
The first phase for Tool Shed involves “walkshops,” where volunteers use field recording equipment to document the sounds they hear, from passersby to the humming of electrical boxes. The volunteer is asked to assign a word or concept to what they have recorded, and these samples are mixed and played in the courtyard at CAM as a sonic portrait of the neighborhood. Information about this community is relayed in both what you hear, but also what is missing.
Beyond providing intangible soundscapes of these neighborhoods, which will live on in a website accessible to the public, the artist hopes the physical shed will have a life after its installation at CAM. Designed to be mobile, Ellingsen says, “It’s a public space, and belongs to the public. Where someone’s tool shop is considered a privately owned space—this is the opposite. Imagine it in a public space or a park. The tool shed is a visual marker for the project and materialized the metaphor.”
The project, with its focus on the surrounding community, ties in with the museum’s dedication to serving its community. The institution seeks to make CAM inviting to all visitors, as Alex Elmestad, director of learning and engagement says: “We are still shaping our institutional identity. When you think about the Saint Louis Art Museum, it has been there for many years and has had multi-generational engagement. We want that for this museum in the community in which it exists.” The museum has robust programs for family and teen engagement, as well as education galleries and a library for public and student use.
Although the shed will leave CAM on August 18, the conversation around the project will just be starting. The fall will act as a study season for the information. In the spring, South African composer Neo Muyanga will participate in a closing final sound experiment at the National Blues Museum in partnership with KDHX.
The public is encouraged to participate in the last walkshop this Saturday, July 20, from 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m. (RSVP here). To stay in the know about other Tool Shed events, visit CAM’s website.
