top of page
Date Cafe

Full concept by Julianne Mason

Written, Designed, Produced, and Curated

This pop-up audio installation was inspired by a set of poems I wrote while at NYU Gallatin, "26 First Dates." While I love the written word, I love spoken word, sound, and performance more. The concept was to let people eavesdrop on dates in a coffee shop, in a way that you cannot fully do in public.

 

I think there is a major lack in narrative structure in sound art, and more of a focus on music or noise. I wanted to create a piece that was both sound art and sound design, that had a narrative structure, and allowed for the audience to immerse themselves. 

 

This is an installation that let you choose what you want to hear, and interact in the space however you prefer. While my set of poems were based entirely on my own experiences, these dates were taking moments from my life, the lives of my friends, and fiction to create a varied group of dates. If you stood in the middle you heard a chatty, bustling cafe, but as you approach each speaker you could tune in and eavesdrop on the specific date. There were 8 in total, each about 6-10 minutes. 

Good.JPG

Overall ambience:

Two short samples:

A first date going well.

A second date going poorly.

Voices: 

Matthew Buonaguro

Anita Castillo-Halvorssen

Sarah Cuneo

Andrew Garrett

Meghan Hornblower

Julia James

Will Krom

Matthew Lee

Julianne Mason

Teresa Mason

Rohan Mehta

Caitlin Ouano

Emily Rellis

bottom of page