MEASUREMENTS
When undergoing an MRI, patients are often advised to wear ear protection and take sedatives. The sounds can be overwhelming. The confined space can provoke panic. I recommend that you do not.
Listen.
Listen to your body.
Listen to the machine.
Listen to your body listening to the machine.
Listen until you can no longer tell the difference.
=
After a period of illness that left me spending long stretches of time in hospitals, measurement became an obsession.
I used to tape a stethoscope to my chest and listen.
Addicted to the sounds of measurement and the feeling of being tested, I kept them playing around me constantly.
I wanted to learn what my body sounded like.
I listened when I woke.
I listened when I slept.
I listened while I was alone.
When I was ready to leave my room again, I brought the stethoscope into the world, listening to my heart against the sounds around me.
By then, I was no longer fascinated by the machines measuring me.
The world had begun to do the same.
=
What do you sound like when you're alone?
When you're aroused?
When you’re moving through the world?
I invite you to find out.
=
Before beginning, listen to the recording once all the way through with headphones on.
Go about your day.
Brush your teeth.
Make coffee.
Fold laundry.
Get to know the machine without your input.
Let it fade into the background.
Let it inhabit you before you inhabit it.
When you're ready, begin.
=
PART ONE
Play the recording out loud throughout all of the following.
Secure the stethoscope to your chest and listen.
Notice what changes.
Notice what stays.
1. In a dark room, lie on the floor for a while.
2. Breathe. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Hold. Repeat for 10 minutes.
3. Hold your breath until you must breathe.
4. Upon waking, remain in bed for 5 minutes.
5. Don’t scratch your itch.
6. Sit in freezing water for one minute.
7. Think about something you’ve been avoiding.
8. Look yourself in the eyes. Hold eye contact.
9. Masturbate. Stay there for a minute once you’ve finished. Listen.
10. Turn off the machine.
11. Try to fall asleep.
=
Untether the stethoscope from your body.
Bring it into the world with you.
=
PART TWO
Notice the sounds around you.
Notice your own.
Notice where one ends and the other begins.
1. Wait for a train or bus.
2. Get on board.
3. Sit somewhere familiar.
4. Sit somewhere unfamiliar.
5. Walk alone late at night. Pause occasionally and listen.
6. Walk until you forget you’re listening.
7. Let the world interrupt you.
8. Push yourself to do something uncomfortable.
9. Listen to music live.
10. Be alone in a place full of strangers.
11. Return home.
THE MACHINES
The recording is composed of sounds produced by machines used to measure, monitor, test, and image the body. These include MRI machines, heart monitors, blood pressure cuffs, and other medical devices.
STETHASCOPE PREPARATION
1. PLACE THE STETHASCOPE ON YOUR CHEST.
2. MAKE SURE THE EARPIECES ARE ORIENTED IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION.
2. LOCATE YOUR HEARTBEAT.
3. SECURE THE STETHASCOPE IN THAT POSITION USING THE TAPE (SEE POLOROID).
4. IF NECESSARY, AN ADDITIONAL PIECE OF TAPE MAY BE WRAPPED AROUND THE NECK AND UNDER THE BELL.
5. THE DEVICE SHOULD REMAIN IN CONTACT WITH THE BODY AND THE HEARTBEAT SHOULD BE AUDIBLE AT ALL TIMES WITHOUT THE USE OF HANDS.
5. ADJUST AS NECESSARY.
6. BEGIN.