Monday, May 4, 2026

Is there an idea in here?; is there a wolf in here?



For this installation, I am hoping to overwhelm the viewer/participant with sensory information. This idea is based on a bit that I like to do with my friends (that always gets a surprisingly large number of laughs) where I do a very unconvincing wolf howl and then pretend to be scared and ask if there is a wolf in here.  ... maybe you just had to be there because this sounds pretty lame via blog post description.


I need to be clear that I have no particular "thing" for wolves. I am not a wolf superfan in any way shape or form, I am just drawn to ideas that I classify as unexpected and/or stupid. I do not want this installation to take itself too seriously, as I think this takes away from the nature of the bit.

In all honesty, I am still unsure of space and place. Maybe the Mudd gallery? I am NOT 100% set on this wolf idea... which I know I need to get on ASAP.

But, saying this were to take place in the Mudd, to start the installation, the room will need to be completely dark. Maybe I will put a moon (a full moon?) in the corner somewhere? (This installation has nothing to do with werewolves. )
I would love it to start with just one video flashing across the wall, or one sound effect going off. awooo?!...
"Is there a wolf in here?"


When it is ramped all the way up, I am envisioning having (at minimum) 4 speakers going with different wolf noises. 2--3 would be actual wolf sounds (1 hour wolf howling sound effects), and 2-3 would play recordings of people pretending to howl like wolves. (Charlotte pretending to howl like a wolf in the cafe) Maybe the recording of the wolf howling scene from Zootopia? Point is, lots of speakers in different places around the room playing lots of different wolf noises simultaneously.

Visually, I want 1-2 projectors projecting videos and pictures of wolves onto the walls. I think I would enjoy trying to draw a hand animated video of wolves running.  
I'm thinking I will also want to include some badly drawn wolves around the room (on those big rolls of paper I can picture a poorly depicted pack of wolves across the wall). Thinking about some cave paintings of wolves and wildlife as inspiration, maybe?

To me, the funny part of the "is there a wolf in here" bit is that it kind of just isn't that funny. It is obvious that I was the one who was howling, and the setting of the joke is typically such that there is no way a wolf would actually be there. I want to evoke that ridiculousness with the installation. I would wander around the space and ask the viewers (in a very fearful and paranoid way) if there is a wolf in the space. I want the visual/auditory aspects of the installation to work side by side with me asking if there are actual wolves.




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Is there an idea in here?; is there a wolf in here?

For this installation, I am hoping to overwhelm the viewer/participant with sensory information. This idea is based on a bit that I like to ...