An extract from my talk at English Literature Department at University of Bristol, 2017, Animal Utterances conference. Discussing a summer spent recording at all times of day in the Sharjah desert and mountains, I play out the sounds of night-caterwauling made by animals both caged in the outdoor wildlife centre,[…]
2017 Tunisian pavilion curator at Venice, Lina Lazaar explains her thinking behind a phantom art show, in which would-be Tunisian migrants, who were previously refused entry into Europe, become performers in a public display of contempt for the confines of nationality imposed on us by government documents such as visas.[…]
Harper’s Bazaar Arabia Commission, 2014. A chapter is coming out on sound in the new Oxford Handbook on Sound Art. Aside from that there are several biennial review articles soon to be published in print, plus a paper for Bristol University’s Animal Utterance conference with Bristol Museum and Art Gallery[…]
No (Wo)man’s an Island, 2017. PVC leather, embroidery. Dimensions variable After several years in my practice of experimenting with sculptural forms inside the gallery context, and outside as sculpture or performative gesture in areas of designated ‘public space’, Stitches to Save 9 With at The Mine; a mainly textile series[…]
Question: Is an artist a machine? fal·low (făl′ō) adj. fal′low·ness n. To rest is to gather energy and ideas, does this make you a better human, a better artist? If output is continuous, are you an unthinking machine. It’s a bit of a leap, to let go of continuous action,[…]
These waves, Emitted not by rhythms, Waves that are if unheeded, utterly silent. A data ocean, in which You buoy yourself, You embroil yourself, To which you give up Life’s greatest credit, You give time, These waves in which You swim, only to sink in at the first real news;[…]
To ‘Keep Calm’ is one thing, to cocoon your mind in self-centred obsession another; your projects your friends your events your circle…your output your income your appearance. This inward turning, a narcissistic echo and webbed mirror we have been sold gives common ground over to those who damage; extremists and[…]
“Just a note to say I had a listen to ‘Petro-Subjectivity, attracted by the title, and love it — you really get to the heart of the toxic mess…. and the Neruda poem, oh yes…. in every dimension, really beautiful work…..” Gregory Whitehead, radio artist. Making notes is the[…]
I made these videos on my phone, both are with the original ambient sound, one made in a shopping Mall in the UAE, the other in a homestead in UK. I post them here as a note, because it struck me, again, this Halloween that no fiction is scarier than[…]
Driving to Al Ain, towards Oman, at Jebel Hafeet the coral has formed an immense natural totem. The pink of the rock body, reaching up to the uninterrupted sky, meets its hue in the glowing tail of the receding sun. Hundreds of creatures, a mass of butterflies, thrive around[…]