Pillowsongs (1997 - 2001)
Installation view as installed at 24HR ART, Darwin, 1999. Photograph by Dacchi Dang.
Pillowsongs is a sound installation exploring sleep and rest as a space for listening. Layers of sound from a bank of compact disk players where mixed semi-randomly into a array beds installed through the galley. Audiences listed to these mixes by resting on the beds with their heads against the sound producing pillows.
Traditional hierarchies regarding sound, music, silence and external noise are collapsed into a space of poetic transformations. The slowly reconfiguring sound textures, dark lighting and restful means by which the audiences engage with the work, engage listeners in a highly intimate, and hypnotic hypnogogic listening experience. Falling asleep can be an appropriate way of interacting with this work, given our ability to perceive sounds whilst in certain stages of sleep.
Listen to re-mixes of the installation materials:
Installation detail as shown at Sidespace Gallery, Salamanca Arts Center, Hobart, 1997. Photograph by Simon Cuthbert.
Exhibition Dates
July 5–15, 2001, Suspended, group exhibition (curated by Vicky Clare & George Dann), First Draft Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
August 4–26, 2000, (curated by Cath Bowdler), 24HR ART, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
October 2–17, 1999, (exhibition with Anne Holt), Temple Studios, Melbourne, Australia.
November10–December 4, 1998, (curated by Melissa Chiu) Gallery 4A, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
January 16-30, 1997, Sidespace Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Australia.
Installation view of Pillowsongs, as installed at Gallery 4A, Sydney, 1998. Photograph by Dacchi Dang.