Installation documentation
After navigating some small technical difficulties, I installed 4 speakers in the space for a small sound installation trial. I am happy that I tested it out in the space - I still love the idea, and would like to focus on it for my EOY work, although I am unsure what I will need to do before then in order to refine it... Below is my final artist statement (presented in the second of our two critique meetings during the week):
Resonant bodies: a vast tidal orchestra and a sigh as if breathing as the water leaves the sand
Multichannel sound installation
7:30 loop
“Acoustic space is where time and space merge as they are articulated by sound... [Deep Listening] is learning to expand the perception of sounds to include the whole space-time continuum of sound, encountering its vastness and complexities as much as possible.”1
These listenings took place at Waiwera, a geothermal town bordering the Hauraki Gulf on Tāmaki Makaurau’s East Coast. Recorded in an area of beach that is only accessible during low tide, the work makes audible the vast cacophony of ecological happenings taking place in its liminal field.
The recording of these four tracks was conducted over a one-hour period using contact microphones, placed both directly on the surface of geological formations and on aluminium rods submerged in rock pools, sand and tidal flow. As these microphones sense the vibrations of solid objects rather than air, the process allows for the translation of physical events into sound. Out of sight, beyond the threshold of everyday human perception, between hearing and listening, there is an incredible volume of happenings taking place.
In mediating the unheard voices of the beach’s living and nonliving inhabitants, the work aims to highlight the nonhuman liveliness and abiotic workings taking place at Waiwera Beach, and reflects on the complexity of ecological existence beyond human consciousness and perception.
I invite you to spend time with the recordings in this space, and to listen to the assemblage of voices present.
While you are welcome to approach each speaker up close, please be aware that at times there are loud moments within some tracks which may be harsh on the ear if listened to at extremely close proximity.
1 Pauline Oliveros, in “The difference between hearing and listening | Pauline Oliveros | TEDxIndianapolis”, 11:37, YouTube video, November 13 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QHfOuRrJB8.
Link to sound files (two stereo tracks)
Critique Feedback
Meeting 1 (notes from Amanda)
water, wind
impression of space:
abandoned hotel!
care - lights on or off? What effect? (opinion was divided - some people liked the light, others found the dark encouraged them to close their eyes and turn off their 'looking' to focus on hearing)
dim lights? LED strips? How much theatrics?
do we need a hint of the environment this has come from? (i.e. Waiwera)
Other possible formats/elements:
narration; like a segment on a radio?
when asked whether to listen to one individual track or all at once, answer was both (let viewer decide, but also encourage them to interact with the space - how to do this?)
hard to remove visual aspects because even in the dark there are aesthetics
Dan: little museum; benches and blankness; how do museums do sound?
does there need to be a picture of what is being listened to for added context?
could the speakers be placed elsewhere in the space? (different/varying heights, angles, etc.)
how to contextualise the sound?
could documentation feature in the work? (i.e. how it was made) -> I am leaning away from this as I want the focus to be on the listening, not the recording personally
words seem like a good route to follow - narration? a script? a text viewers can engage with? think about...
conscious decision to hide technologies in the space (i.e. amps, wires); what are we allowed to see?
how do you encourage people to keep their attention in the space for longer?
hard to test these things without an audience!
how to extend that moment of viewing/listening?
Meeting 2
feels 1-on-1, people can "pick a pal"
people intuitively move around the space interacting with the speakers; some have a favourite spot
multiple cacophony/speakers pull you around the space
statement is an improvement from that of first critique
how to extend time spent in space? encourage time spent...
spacing out speakers encourages movement
feels like being underwater - height of speakers like port-holes on a boat, or pool outlets
re. recorded tracks: what happens if microphones are placed on opposite sides of the same object? i.e. get a sense of being in between, occupying the space of the original object itself
what spatial qualities are already brought about in the recording itself? (i.e. subtle delay from each side, difference in direction, etc.)
how hidden should they be? could the speakers be embedded in the walls? brought out fully? how visible do you want them to be?
bright light + sound - too much sensory engagement? visual psychology an element, different input to sound... could dim lights/different lighting work better?
takes time to really sink into the work; how to encourage people to spend that time listening
can resolve this; no need to add much more, work with what you have
if adding anything, maybe a narrative element (a text to carry with the viewer, a context of the recordings, etc.)
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