Annie Dunning

Independent Artist, Canada

When amphibians breathe through their skin under water, does it have a taste? A smell? What could we learn by imagining ourselves peering from the liminal dwelling space of a swamp? Toad Touch by Annie Dunning positions sound as a form of touch and explores the possibility of sensory expansion.
This work was inspired by a viral video of a toad, sitting in water making its mating call. In the video, water ripples in concentric rings radiating from the toad’s body, and at times the harmonics seem to split the ripples, doubling the number of rings. I wanted to show the haptic qualities of sound and seek out ways in which humans could parallel this moment of a toad vibrating in sympathy with its surroundings.
Two human-sized bronze sculptures of toads anchor this project – each holding a bowl of water on its back. These bowls are based on Han dynasty Chinese spouting bowls and generate sound when the handles are rubbed. With enough friction, droplets of water can jump out of the bowl. Two types of sound can be made with the bowls, a vibrational low tone that moves water and a higher, louder harmonic.
The sculptures are accompanied by a video projection of two performers, Lisa Conway and Steph Yates, interacting with the toad sculptures next to a pond. As the performers rub the handles of the bowls, vibrational sounds are created as well as ripples in the water that the bowls contain. These human generated sounds mingle with recordings of toads as they sing for a mate.
The bronze toads are also invitingly tactile. To make them a touchstone of this interspecies,hybrid sensory experience, I gave certain areas a high polish. These touch points reference public sculpture that develop a shine from the repeated touch of passersby who hope to take some luck from the object. Slowly the repeated touch erodes the surface of the sculpture; each person taking a minute trace of the work with them and leaving behind molecules of themselves.