babblesnatch is an 8-channel sonic ‘snowglobe’, a space of cascading Sound in which Voices dart and fly and recognisable words erupt from the hubbub of sonic colour. Entirely created from unmanipulated and digitally manipulated recordings of two Voices performing an original script, it cracks open conventional language, inviting Listeners to use their imagination and decide significance.
During Covid lockdown taken-for-granted live gatherings had to rush online. Everyone virtually listened to and watched each other even more than previously, creating an overwhelming digital infostorm. Does digital technology enable an ever-expanding world of increased freedom and power? Or is this an illusion? How can individuals protect themselves from being rendered inert by overload? Big questions.
babblesnatch cannot provide answers to such questions, but offers an exploration of everyday social media life, sparking debate around tensions such as surveillance, mental health, corporate/personal, community, callousness, mis/information. The position of the Listener as both inside and outside what is heard is highlighted, questioning the lazy binary of active speaking and passive listening. Importantly, Sound and Listening as artforms in their own right are placed centre-stage – along with our capacity to go beyond what is visible, so critical in a digital world where hard fact increasingly downplays the importance of life lived with emotions, and uncritical manipulations allow the blurring of what is and what isn’t.
Winner of the international Karl Sczuka Grant Prize 2023 for experimental Soundart.
Voices: Caroline Wilkins, Leona Jones
Find out more here: https://www.leonajones.co.uk/b...
Installation Information
Open Thursday 22nd - Saturday 24th October
12-5pm
FREE to attend
