The Mapparium (1935) Chester Lindsay Churchill Stained glass, bronze, steel (30 feet diameter) Christian Science Center, Boston, MA Recorded July 22, 1989

Located in the Christian Science Center in Boston, The Mapparium is a spherical stained glass room that depicts as a map of the world with political borders from 1935. Due to the structure and hard surface of the room sounds bounce quite easily and specifically from spot to spot, and as a result visitors usually speak rather quietly in a futile attempt to avoid being overheard from afar. The effect of this unusual design condition is that The Mapparium allows one to hear a real-time commentary on a visual depiction of the world that is decades out of date. This continuous aural response to the map speeds over its azure surface mirroring the chronological displacement of the map with a spatial displacement of the words spoken in an attempt to place oneself within it. So as one looks at Buenos Aries, one can hear a stranger across the room, back turned, whispering inside one's head about Persia.