The sight of people slowly moving forward with their cameras raised toward the Mona Lisa was so surreal. Seeing so many people taking photos made me feel that I didn’t need to take one myself. So instead, I pointed my recorder at the Mona Lisa, thinking that perhaps sound could also preserve what this artwork means to us today.
Furthermore, this recording becomes a kind of archive of humanity, not from the perspective of the artwork, the place, or even the people themselves, but from something else entirely. From the behavior of the viewers, you can tell, for example, that it takes nearly ten minutes of waiting in line to reach the front of the painting; that the space is crowded, with nearby voices overlapping; that a mother, undeterred by her crying child, remains in line out of enthusiasm; and that selfie sticks are prohibited.