Project Title: The SoundGarden Project
Recipient Organization: The Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Fiscal Sponsor: Intersection for the Arts
Lead Artist: Ed Osborn
Genre and Date Awarded: Literary and Media Arts, December 1995
To Be Completed:

Sound artist Ed Osborn is collaborating with the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired to develop a public installation for and by the visually impaired. The SoundGarden Project will be installed in Yerba Buena Gardens, incorporated into the “Talking Sign” navigation system. The project’s purpose is to create an engaging environment for the visually impaired in the garden. Content for the piece has been developed, but its installation was delayed because of a number of technical changes in the Talking Sign system. The SoundGarden will be installed in the future.

Talking Signs® technology is an infrared wireless communications system that provides remote directional human voice messages that make confident, independent travel possible for vision impaired and print-handicapped individuals. The technology was pioneered and developed at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center in San Francisco, California.

The system consists of short audio signals sent by invisible infrared light beams from permanently installed transmitters to a hand-held receiver that decodes the signal and delivers the voice message through its speaker or headset. The signals are directional, and the beam width and distance can be adjusted. The system works effectively in both interior and exterior applications. The Talking Sign system has been installed at several public spaces in San Francisco—public transit stations, the Main Library, and City Hall. Talking Signs also can be found in Phoenix, Santa Barbara, Boston, and Dayton, Ohio.

Content for the SoundGarden Project augments the way-finding function of the Talking Sign system with audio art that is drawn from the lives and experiences of visually impaired people. The format and content of the piece was developed in conjunction with Patrick Farley’s art program at the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and a working group of the Lighthouse’s clients. This was done to ensure that the piece reflected the perceptions, experiences, and concerns of the visually-impaired community. Several hours of audio material are included in the finished project, allowing both for multiple perspectives and to permit repeated visits to the garden without much chance of hearing the same material several times over.

Osborn wrote, “The main theme in my installation work is that of giving voice to ordinary experiences and by that process illustrating some of the shared boundaries of the human condition. I generally do this by recording interviews with people and placing this audio material in installation settings that highlight some of the issues discussed in the interviews.”

The installation of the SoundGarden Project was to coincide with the implementation of the Talking Sign system in 1996-97. However, several delays were caused by changes in the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s construction schedules and unusually heavy winter weather in the late 1990s, which caused further delays. In the meantime, the technology for the navigation system became more sophisticated and introduced intriguing new possibilities for the SoundGarden. Ed Osborn will complete the piece when he returns from an artist’s residency and other projects in Berlin, Germany.

The Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired was established in 1902 as the Reading Room for the Blind by Mrs. Andrew S. Rowan whose brother was blind. Through the years, this agency merged with others to provide recreational, educational, and social services to persons with visual impairments. In 1961, the California League was founded by Rose Resnick, and provided rehabilitation services for individuals with vision loss and other disabilities. As of October 1, 1993, the Lighthouse for the Blind and the Rose Resnick Center merged. The agency promotes independence, equality, and self-reliance of people who are blind and visually impaired through provision of rehabilitation training and other services..

Ed Osborn

Solo Exhibitions

• 2004 Forum Itinérant, Strasbourg, France
• 2003 Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
  • Voxxx, Chemnitz, Germany
  • Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
• 2002 Galerie Haferkamp, Cologne, Germany
• 2001 Sparwasser HQ, Berlin, Germany
  • singuhr-hörgalerie, Berlin, Germany
  • MATRIX Program, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA.
• 1999 Artspace, Sydney, Australia.
  • Thompson Art Gallery, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA.
• 1998 Fairfield Center Gallery, Fairfield, CA.
  • Galerie DARE-DARE, Montréal, Québec.
• 1997 Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
• 1996 Muu Media Gallery / Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki, Finland.
  • Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
  • LACE, Los Angeles, CA

Group Exhibitions

• 2004 Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden, Territories
  • Transmediale Festival, Berlin, Germany, Fly Utopia!
• 2003 Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany, Wings of Art.
  • Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY, Pop Rocks.
  • Metrònom, Barcelona, Spain, Al Lado del Silencio.
• 2002 Art & Industry Biennial, Christchurch, New Zealand.
  • Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken, Germany, Resonanz I.
• 2001 Klangturm, St. Pölten, Austria
• 2001 Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Spain, Zeppelin Sound ArtFestival.
• 2000 send + receive festival, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
  • Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand, Tectonic.
  • Inventionen 2000, Berlin Germany.
  • San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, San Francisco, CA
• 1999 Universidad de Castilla La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain, Situaciones.
  • SoundCulture 99, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
• 1998 Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco CA, Interiors.
  • Brisbane Festival, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia.
  • Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA, EarMarks.
  • New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA, Dromology: Ecstasies of Speed.
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, Sound Box.
• 1996 Sonambiente Festival, Berlin, Germany.
  • Four Walls, San Francisco, CA, Inter-Galactic.
  • San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Techne.
• 1995 ISEA 95, Montréal, Québec.
• 1994 Titanik Gallery, Turku, Finland, Elsewhere.
  • Victoria Room, San Francisco, CA, Resonant System

Performances

2003

• Voxxx, Chemnitz, Germany
  • Institute of Modern Art, with the Elision Ensemble, Brisbane, Australia.
  • Bus Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
  • Metronom, Barcelona, Spain
  • Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

2002

• Festival of Exiles, Berlin, Germany
  • Experimentelle Musik 2002, Munich, Germany
  • Audible Interfaces, Ensemble Mosaik, Berlin Germany

2001

• MeX, Dortmund, Germany
  • Gallery Haferkamp, Cologne, Germany
  • 21 Grand, Oakland, CA
  • Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Logos Foundation, Ghent, Belgium.

1999

• Lincoln Center, New York, NY

1998

• The LAB, San Francisco, CA

1996

• Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI

1995

• Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.

1994

• Freunde Guter Musik Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
  • Sound Symposium, St. John's, Newfoundland.

1993

• Experimental Intermedia Foundation, New York, NY.
• Audio Visual Experimental Festival, Arnhem, Netherlands.
• VPRO Radio, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Logos Foundation, Ghent, Belgium.
• Feedback Studio, Cologne, Germany.
• Het Apollohuis, Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Teaching and Lectures

2003

• University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland, guest lecturer.
• Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, guest lecturer.
• Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, Australia, guest lecturer (& 1998).
• RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, guest lecturer.
• California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, instructor (& 1999, 1995)

2002

• Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (& 1999), guest lecturer.
• Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, guest lecturer.
• Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig, Germany, Guest Professor.

2001

• California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, guest lecturer.
• Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand, guest lecturer.
• Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, guest lecturer.
• Mills College, Oakland, CA (& 1998, 1989), guest lecturer

2000

• Technische Universität, Berlin, Germany, guest lecturer.
• University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, instructor.
• Kent State University, Kent, OH, guest lecturer.
• University of Akron, Akron, OH, guest lecturer.
• Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH, guest lecturer.

1999

• Tasmanian School of Art , Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, guest lecturer.
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago, guest lecturer.
• University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, guest lecturer.
• Otago Polytechnic School of Art, Dunedin, New Zealand, guest lecturer.
• Elam School of Art, Auckland, New Zealand, guest lecturer.

1998

• San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, instructor (& 1997, 1995).
• Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, OH, guest lecturer.

Residencies

2003

• Kunsthochschule für Media, Cologne, Germany

2001

• Christchurch Polytechnic Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand.

2000

• DAAD Artists In Berlin Program, Berlin, Germany.
• Polar Circuit 3, Rovaniemi, Finland.
• Tryon Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC.

1999

• Artspace, Sydney, Australia.
• Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Woodside, CA.
• Center for Research in Computing and the Arts, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA.

1998

• Polar Circuit 2, Tornio, Finland

1995

• Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA.

1994

• STEIM, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Het Apollohuis, Eindhoven, Netherlands.

1993

• Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, AB, Canada.
• The LAB, San Francisco, CA.

Grants and Awards

2001

• Finnish Cultural Foundation, Helsinki, Finland (with Simo Alitalo)

2000

• Guggenheim Fellowship, Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY
• Creative Artist Fellowship, Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission, Oakland, CA.

1996

• Creative Work Fund, San Francisco, CA.
• Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, CA.

1995

• Travel Grant, Arts International, New York, NY (& 1994).

Ed Osborn: www.roving.net

Rose Resnick Lighthouse: www.lighthouse-sf.org

Talking Signs: www.talkingsigns.com

Smith Kettlewell Institute: www.ski.org

Intersection for the Arts: www.theintersection.org