Student installation ‘Soundworm’ dismantled
After almost three years standing between Anderson Hall and Fondren Library, Rice University’s first and only student-created public art installation, “Soundworm,” was removed in early August.
“Soundworm” was conceived of for the Rice School of Architecture's spring 2014 Charette, a weekend-long team-based design competition. To meet the competition prompt, the creation of an “installation that addresses the possibilities of a relationship between public spaces in the digital and physical realms,” “Soundworm” played live audio from microphones stationed in different public buildings around campus. Following the university’s approval, “Soundworm” was installed the following October.
While after three years “Soundworm” may have felt like a permanent installation, its lifespan nonetheless exceeded original planning.
“The permission was granted for a one year duration that we then succeeded in extending for another year and then one more ... But it was never intended to be permanent,” Dean of Architecture Sarah Whiting said.
Whiting said part of the reason the installation had to remain temporary was the cost of maintenance.
“Student installations … are not part of Rice’s public art program, which budgets for project maintenance,” Whiting said. “Maintaining it, particularly given its complex sound technology, would be very difficult.”
For this reason, “Soundworm”’s removal did not come as a surprise.
“I had known for more than a year that “Soundworm” would be dismantled. The wires carrying sound to the pipe suffered from flooding and for a long time the installation was silent,” fifth-year architecture student George Hewitt said. Hewitt was a member of the six-person team that originally entered the proposal for the project.
For Hewitt, the installation displays the potential for student-based projects on campus.
“The ‘Soundworm’ represented a strong collaboration between engineering, arts and architecture at Rice. It communicated to many students that a project of this scale is possible even at our age and stage in our careers,” Hewitt said.
More from The Rice Thresher
Acting like an athlete: Rice basketball alum takes on Broadway
Underneath Chadd Alexander’s Broadway costume, there’s ankle tape and wrist braces — same protective gear he wore as a walk-on basketball player at Rice, though now he’s performing eight shows a week in the ensemble of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” instead of running conditioning drills in Tudor Fieldhouse.
“Love Island” Season 7: A Messy, Magnetic Reality Show
It was my first time watching “Love Island,” and I get it now. There's a cycle to this show: you swear you won't get sucked in, you dismiss it as background noise, and then, one week later, you're canceling plans just to hear a group of twenty-somethings debate the meaning of the word "exploring." The truth is, “Love Island” has plenty of flaws. It’s too long, too produced and too ridiculous, but I'll be the first to admit it: I'm already planning to watch next season.
Review: “F1: The Movie” puts pedal to the metal
Joseph Kosinski, Claudio Miranda and Jerry Bruckheimer — the trio behind “Top Gun: Maverick” — return to high-octane spectacle with “F1,” a sports drama that blends spectacle with surprising humanity. It’s loud, stylish and frequently overwhelming, but it’s also one of the most engaging racing movies in years.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.