I like to listen • Stethoscope, platform, audio equipment • Doctor’s office, Maastricht • 2016

I was invited to install a work in the general practice of doctor Swijgman. For this situation I imagined what a stethoscope observes all day. 

This erected stethoscope was placed in the doctor’s office. I wrote a text for the stethoscope, who likes to listen, not to speak. A person who is also not fond of speaking lend his voice for the recording of the text. The stethoscope tells about the things he hears in this room. His observations are plain and objective, he likes all sounds. The sound of crying is appreciated as much as the sound of heartbeats, or sighs, or laughter.  

The room could be visited when the doctor was not at work. Visitors could sit down at the table of the doctor. At that moment the audio equipment started and the stethoscope told them about his life and observations.

Maastricht Unexpected Art Spaces (MUAS) is an occasional joint venture between nine organisations in Maastricht. Almost all of these spaces are ‘non-art spaces’. Artists are invited to present their work in an unexpected way.