All Ears, Pomona

All Ears, Pomona, was a sculptural installation and performance/design project with students from Pomona and Scripps College.

Untitled (Listening Device I), 2013 was installed in front of Frary dining hall at Pomona College for six weeks in the spring of 2014. During this time period, Mann created an active listening performance and design project with students from Pomona and Scripps College.

Students participated in an active listening workshop, which tuned their ears and bodies through a series of guided listening exercises and body centering techniques. The workshop was designed to prepare students for a durational listening performance called All Ears, which they performed with each other. For the All Ears performance, students paired off into listening duos where one student spoke, while the other student actively listened – without words – for an entire two hour class period. Each student had the opportunity to switch roles from speaker to listener (or vice versa) outside of class. In the following weeks, after everyone had the opportunity to speak, be heard, and listen, students designed a poster about their experience with the sculpture and/or performance.