“I spoke truth and someone listened”

“I spoke truth and someone listened”

Terrain Biennial, Toronto, Ontario | 2021

Charlotte Street Foundation Crossroads Artboards, Kansas City | 2021

What does truth look like? Acts of listening, reflecting and understanding, I believe, need to be amplified at this time. The dangerous rise in disinformation alongside the Covid-19 global pandemic inspired this project. I invite participants to generate audio recordings of themselves speaking truth. Encoded in each audio file is a sound wave pattern that I translate into a painting called a ‘truth line.’  Each truth line is unique to the speaker’s voice signature and personal truth. The Charlotte Street Foundation Artboard in Kansas City and the vinyl wrapped columns for Terrain Biennial 2021 depict a collections of truth lines from local and international participants. The art responds to public space, site specificity, the urban environment and architecture.

“I spoke truth and someone listened” is a direct quote from participant Ash Anders. The project aims to grow connectivity and meaningful experiences through global exchange. The art magnifies diverse voices from multiple countries with various world views. While the project continues to expand, there are currently 45 participants that represent Australia, Brazil, Iran, Canada, France, Germany, Ghana, Lithuania, UK, and USA. Languages spoken include Portuguese, Punjabi, Sorani Kurdish, Farsi, Spanish, English, and Lithuanian. Participants range in age from 12 to 81 and self-identify as first generation Americans, immigrants, cisgender and LGBTQIA+. Speakers have addressed their identities, placed hope for the future in their children, expressed that truth is shaped by moments in time, and distinguished the difference between factual truth and being authentically true to oneself. They have spoken in declarations, poetry, story-telling, and readings from texts that they have claimed to be their truths. The project “I spoke truth and someone listened” reveals universal patterns in peoples’ value systems such as identity, family and the importance of voice.

error: © 2003-2020 Jill Downen