WN2T (We Need to Talk) Installation Invites Interaction
Audrey Barnes & Kevin Phaup, WN2T (We Need to Talk)
March 15 - April 10
Designer talk online: April 5, 2 p.m.
JMU industrial design professors Audrey Barnes and Kevin Phaup’s latest work, WN2T (We Need to Talk), March 15–April 10 at JMU’s Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art, invites visitors to immerse themselves in this multi-sensory design exhibition. Visitors can listen, read, speak, sing, whisper and shout into this collection of intertwined analog amplifiers. Simultaneously, a series of projected responses to the prompt, “we need to talk,” encourage visitors to better understand and empathize with others.
When someone says, ‘We need to talk,’ it’s a signal that the conversation is important, likely serious,” says Barnes. “Over the past year, we have all experienced significant changes in our daily lives. Social, political, and climatic events, were intensified by the ongoing pandemic. Our connections to others and our capacity for deep empathy has been strained by prolonged physical distancing. We need to talk – we owe it to ourselves.”
The exhibition will be online and in person at the gallery, with an online conversation with the designers April 5 at 2 p.m.
Audrey Barnes holds a Master of Industrial Design degree from Rhode Island School of Design and a Bachelor of Industrial Design degree from North Carolina State University. As area head of industrial design at JMU's School of Art, Design and Art History, Barnes advances a design thinking approach in her creative problem-solving to create new goods and services and to inspire action in her local community.
Kevin Phaup earned a Master of Fine Art in Industrial Design from the University of Notre Dame as well as his Bachelor of Art in Architecture and Bachelor in Fine Art in Metals from Miami University. Working across multiple disciplines, Phaup uses design to solve problems of mobility, accessibility and disaster relief.
Image Gallery
Room 820 South Main Street
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
