We visited the sound exhibition of Iranian artist Noori, whose theme was Echoes of Protest. She didn’t tell stories through pictures or words, but used various sounds to let you directly feel the emotions of protest – such as anxiety, hope, and powerlessness.
27 minutes of audio:
Someone recites T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” (the original poem talks about the despair after the war, but now it sounds like it’s describing the confusion of modern people)
An Iranian female singer sings a 7th-century elegy, which is now used in women’s protest activities
The experience was quite unique:
In the dark red room, plastic chairs were scattered around (like those commonly seen in government halls or street rallies).
Sounds came from all directions, sometimes as sacred as church hymns, and sometimes turning into the rumble of factory machinery.
The sudden silence was even more disconcerting than the noise.
The artist conveys some genuine feelings through sound, which is another form of protest. When the ears are filled with wailing, praying and silence, the body remembers the tension interwoven with oppression and resistance, just like the memory engraved in the bones. It inspires me to use sound as a medium to create some works expressing self-identity, cultural identity and the like.
Leave a Reply