Give It A Breath

Performance and sound installation, Solo, 2022
Exhibited and Performed at the exhibition "Noise Bodies", Dilston Gallery, London
Material: Clay, Smart Phone, Bluetooth Speaker and Microphone




"Give It A Breath" is a sound sculpture installation and improvisational performance piece that explores the interests of Post Anthropocene and More-than-human. It imagines a parallel world where bees have gone extinct, and instead of pollen, imaginary plants called "sonic botanies," utilize sound for reproduction. The work reconsiders the relationship between the environment and humans through the sonic spaces created by the coopration of sonic botanies and humans selected as new mediators. The collaborative piece "Where We Sing Along" carries on the production process and concept of this work.

For each of the five sculptures, a set consisting of one smartphone, one microphone, and one speaker is prepared and installed.

On each smartphone, a simple process is alternated:

- recording the surrounding sounds with the microphone and saving them as sound files

- playing randomly selected sound files from the speaker for a certain period of time

The five sculptures independently repeat this process. Each sculpture records and plays back the sounds produced by the performer. The sculptures listen to each other's played sounds and record and play them back again. In this way, each sculpture continuously fills the space with sounds by incorporating and emitting them. The way the sounds resonate differs depending on the shape of each sculpture. The way the space is filled with sound varies based on the size of the exhibition space and the material of the walls. The performer rotates or moves the sculptures to encourage interaction between them. The creation of one-off sounds in the space is brought about by multiple uncontrollable elements.

"Dilston Gallery," a converted church in London, resonates well with sounds such as human voices and footsteps in its surroundings. These sounds are incorporated into the sculptures and repeatedly released back into the space. Site-specific elements such as the material and structure of the building have a significant influence on the resulting soundscapes.

The performance involves sound artist Thomas Gardner participating with cello performances.