Constanze Maier
Constanze Maier (1994, DE) is a graphic designer, artist, outdoor enthusiast, and graduate of the master
Interview Constanze Maier
Constanze Maier interviewed by Hattie Wade during the Graduation Show 2022 at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK).
Do You Hear Me?
Graduation project 2021-2022 by Constanze Maier
4 channel audio installation
The project is an immersive installation inspired by an on-site design research experience in the Austrian alps, as well as an experimental extension of the thesis The Ontic Tonic on embedded design through situated empirical research. As part of the on-site research, the designer participated in an avalanche safety training which included being buried under 1,5 m of snowpack for 15 minutes. During an avalanche accident, the buried victim is sonically isolated-which means that they can hear almost all activity from the outside – while the rescue team is incapable of hearing any sounds from the person under the snow.
Drawing from this phenomenon of sonic isolation the project provokes the boundaries of our often distant relationship to the climate. The installation seeks to interpret individual aspects of an avalanche experience by activating a body-space discourse via an experimental encounter. It strives to tear down the rigidity of observing from afar while excluding the body by immersing the visitor, thus questioning the ambivalence of the outside and the inside.