STRANDS
Strands comprised of 12 sound instruments and a sound clip that was playing on loop for the entire exhibition of One Night Only, 2018. The sound instruments were made out of a combination of found objects and human hair. The sound clip was made from the sounds made by the sound instruments as a means to challenge the viewer’s association between sound and material.
Found objects were incorporated to explore the way hair behaves when coming in contact and reacting with different objects and materials, playing with the materiality and limitations that comes with such a fragile material. I paid attention to the aesthetics of the sound instruments as well as their ability to create unique sounds as a means to contrast the grotesque and the beautiful, two very different aspects of the set up. The instruments were arranged in a very minimalist set up to contrast the uncontrollable and boundless way hair behaves when removed from the body.
To invoke the feeling of discomfort even further, the sound clip encompassed an overlapping of the sounds recorded. The sound clip was composed in such a way to take listeners on a journey, where some sounds flowed into each other, some made to anticipate and some to shock the listener. The feelings and emotions that the sound clip invoked varied at different parts where some would bring out the feeling of entanglement and violence whereas some parts were delicate and some were voids of silence.
A welcome mat made out of hair was placed at the foot of the table, forcing the viewer to step on to the pile of hair in order to interact with the instruments which added to the discomfort of the piece as a whole. The mat acted as a way to create an imaginary boundary and sphere where this piece can exist away from the other contrasting art pieces exhibited in the room.
Strands in its entirety was an auditory, visual, sensory and psychological experience, playing on the viewers discomfort pertaining to cleanliness and the abject. All its components, from the aesthetics to the audio, played a vital part in its execution.
