b'and what is not. Works like Speaker (2017) and the two related works Insulated Conductors (orange) and Insulated Conductors (black) (both 2018) mimic working technology but are made of concrete and steel respectively. Their forms suggest sound and activity, but instead they are inert sculptural objects, leaving the viewer to contemplate an awkward silence. In Ayn Rand Lamp (201215) a television displays a close-cropped view of the writers face during an interview with news anchor Dan Rather. Her eyes nervously dart back and forth, and their movements trigger left- and right-facing light bulbs the artist has linked to the TV. Ayn Rand Lamp is a clever formal exercise and, by muting Rands voice, Ryan also challenges Rands philosophy, which champions acting upon self-interest above all else. In this context, Ryans practice can be understood more broadly as an investigation of the politics of sound, of what we are ableand what we chooseto hear.notes1. Jack Ryan, telephone conversation with the author, December 17, 2018.2. See Thomas Harlander, A Santa Monica Tech Startup Has Hacked Meditation, Los Angeles, December 12, 2018, https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/upgrade-labs-meditation/.3. Alexis C. Madrigal, The Case of the Sick Americans in Cuba Gets Stronger, The Atlantic, February 15, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/what-happened-to-american-diplomats -in-cuba-nobody-knows/553343/.4. Ryan, conversation with the author.70'