During my Makerspace residency, I began a new work titled Sound System. Sound System is a multimodal experience using sound, light, and image to create an embodied experience of looking, seeing, and hearing. The goal with the Sound System is to create a 3-way speaker system that also functions as viewfinders into a visual field. The project is a continuation of my thesis work at Tyler (MFA ‘24). The project is rooted in an attempt to highlight diasporic exchanges through advancements in sound technologies. As a lens-based artist, a lot of my work relies on images and photographic processes to convey a concept. For the sound system, I wanted to merge an audiovisual experience within a contained space, the speaker cabinet. Within this space the goal is to create an experience that rewards and stimulates looking.
At the beginning of the Makerspace residency, I worked with Makerspace employees Hannah and Logan on the prototype of the speakers. We started by designing the exterior speaker housing before reverse engineering the interior to contain the electronic components and fit everything inside. I used SketchUp software to begin building a model of the speaker housing. We left SketchUp and used Rhino as well as a program that allowed us to create and download custom boxes for laser cutting. Logan and I also worked on 3D printed cases to fit the hardware that goes inside of the speakers.
Multimodal—
With the residency stipend I was able to purchase mini LCD screens, speakers, and a Raspberry Pi. Hannah provided an introduction to working with the Raspberry Pi. The computing hardware/software was integral in running the sequence of videos, sound, and lights. With the help of the Duckworth staff, we were able to run a program that looped several videos, as well as run lights simultaneously. A large portion of the residency was learning methods to make technology perform certain tasks.
Exploration—
A large part of the experience for me was gaining access to a digital fabrication space. I spent time getting familiar with the laser printer, materials, and tools in the Makerspace. With the laser printer I created a series of prints based on a historical drawing of a boll weevil. The boll weevil is a cotton-eating beetle that led to the devastation of crops in the early 20th century, which became a large contributing factor to the Great Migration of Black Southern sharecroppers to the northern United States.
Discourse—
The residency also provided opportunities to connect and network with other thinkers and creatives at Temple. We visited the special collection research center, where John Pettit, associate archivist, gave us a tour of his digitizing facility. I was also introduced to Boyer professor Michelle Temple. Michelle was working in the Makerspace with one of her undergraduate students on creating contact microphones. Both of these interactions opened my eyes to the possibilities of furthering the archival material and technology used within my practice.
_InMotion.
The planning, modeling, and research all came together in my solo exhibition at Automat Collective, curated by Brynn Hurlestone in June 2025. Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 were functioning speakers consisting of videos of groups of dancers, viewed through glass. The videos consisted of found footage from news broadcasts of a dance circle during a George Floyd protest in Philadelphia; the other video consisted of a filmed dance battle from the 90s. The viewers’ distance from the speakers enabled different experiences of seeing and hearing the video. I wanted to highlight different ways in which Black bodies are surveilled and how revolutionary acts of reverie and self-actualization take place within a system of anti-Black violence.
The Makerspace residency was an impactful experience that came at a pivotal moment in my artistic practice. I look forward to continuing working with technology in my future projects.