An interactive installation of tabor drums that respond to footwork, exploring questions of defense, paranoia, and what it means to be a patriot.

Patriots is an interactive installation featuring tabor drums placed on low platforms, each surrounded by soil collected from different U.S. states. The drums are activated remotely: nearby footwork causes the drumheads to vibrate. A laser beam positioned beneath each drum “reads” these vibrations and sends the signal to an amplifier, which magnifies the frequency and makes the drumbeat audible.

Teresa developed Patriots following research at the Penn Museum Library on 17th-century military defense tactics. At that time, subterranean threats were sometimes detected by placing pins on a drumhead; vibrations from underground movement would cause the pins to bounce, signaling approaching danger. The work raises questions about what constitutes defense, what crosses the line into paranoia, and ultimately what makes a patriot.

In 1995, Teresa collaborated with choreographer and dancer Rennie Harris on an improvisational performance at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Harris animated the installation with hip-hop movement, playfully activating and responding to the drums as he danced in and around the piece.