Britni Bicknaver
Special Collections
Special Collections (accompanying information card—front and back), Audio Instillation, 42 min. 11 sec., 2022
The Mercantile Library, Cincinnati, Ohio
Special Collections (2022), an unorthodox audio tour of Cincinnati’s famed Mercantile Library, takes listeners on a contemplative journey through the institution’s collection. Focused through an anthropological lens and presented in the form of a ten-chapter audiobook accessed through a QR code, this piece surveys the human epoch—from the myths of our creation to the realities of our impending demise. Couched within this investigation is an acknowledgment of the most significant mark humanity will leave behind: our collective knowledge.
Special Collections, Chapter 1: In the Beginning (Video substitution for in-person experience), Audio Installation, 2 min. 39 sec., 2022
The Mercantile Library, Cincinnati, Ohio
Special Collections, Interlude: Gee (Video Substitution for In-Person Experience), Audio Installation, 2 min. 39 sec., 2022
The Mercantile Library, Cincinnati, Ohio
Nature's Clock
Nature's Clock (2025) is an audio experience for visitors of the Get Into Nature gallery at the Cincinnati Museum Center. A meditative and narrative sound experience, Nature's Clock transports listeners further into the subject of the Gallery—the edge of Appalachia—through the lens of our yearly seasonal cycle. Divided by seasons, each track intimately captures nature's mystical systems while transporting you to the Appalachian forest.
Autumn
Summer
Audio Tour
Audio Tour, Charging Station, 2017
The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Audio Tour disguises itself as a conventional museum audio tour for Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center. Visitors receive a media player, headphones, and an information card. But unlike a standard audio tour, Audio Tour ignores the exhibits on display. Instead, it addresses philosophical, historical, and universal ideas and information, framing the CAC in alternative ways.
By juxtaposing the story of the land on which the museum sits with its present-day appearance—its modern facilities, idiosyncrasies, employees, and other inner workings—the piece strives to aurally frame the museum in its specific time and place. Audio Tour seeks to synthesize the past, present, and future of the CAC.
Audio Tour- Drinking Fountain, Video Supplement for Audio Piece, 2:01, 2017
The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio