SONICA 2023 exhibition: Darsha Hewitt / Simon Whetham

Darsha Hewitt: High-Fidelity Wasteland II: The Proto-Plastic Groove
The High-Fidelity Wasteland trilogy is a series of sound-centric works that wade through generations of decomposing material waste produced by the global music industry. “High-Fidelity Wasteland II: The Proto-Plastic Groove” is an electromechanical sound installation that up-cycles sonic expression by grinding down, liquifying, re-pressing and cutting new traces into obsolete music storage formats. Spinning at 78 revolutions per minute, the shellac record was the first form of disk-shaped recording produced to be widely collected, consumed and, as the way things go within the music industry, - ultimately cast off as an abandoned media in favour of the more cheaply produced medium, in this case, the vinyl record. As a material, shellac looks and behaves like any other plastic; however, this dark resin has organic origins. It is a bioadhesive matter excreted by the tree-dwelling Lac beetle, which creates a protective shelter for its offspring. Chemically similar to synthetic polymers, shellac is considered a natural form of plastic. And though shellac was rapaciously harvested and commodified throughout the 20th century to make music tangible, the era of the shellac record represents the only (and very short-lived) period when the music recording industry was sustainable.

The production of this artwork was made possible through the European Media Art Platform / EMARE program, co-funded by European Union.
 

Simon Whetham: Successive Actions
Successive Actions is part of a larger kinetic sound performance project “Channelling”, in which a collection of motor devices salvaged from obsolete and discarded consumer technology is activated by environmental sound recordings. In turn, this produces new sounds from the devices, which are amplified using various microphones and techniques. The recordings feature seemingly mundane sound phenomena that occur unpredictably and irregularly in everyday life - passing traffic, wind, doors closing - and because of this, the movement of the devices is random, variable, and autonomous. Through this the relationship between performer and devices is a collaboration rather than a master and servant type situation. The project continues to change and adapt to its environment. The performance and method of presentation evolve and refine with each iteration. Devices are added to the collection or retired, and the sounds change according to the location, causing new triggers and movement of the devices. The current version of the performance gives the audience two intimate views of the performing devices on a split screen, allowing them to watch the performance and the detail of the devices actions.

Canadian-born, Berlin-based artist Darsha Hewitt uses sound, electromechanical installation, handmade electronics, video, drawing and photography to critically investigate the materiality of the machines and practices of technology that consumer society throws away. With a media archaeological approach, she deconstructs generations of obsolete technology to trace out systems of power, economy and control inherent throughout technological infrastructures. The effect simultaneously demystifies the confounding inner systems at play within our technology while further re-mystifying it by transforming it into unexpected sonic experiences that raise questions about our technological entanglements and its implications on humans and ecology. Her current work looks into the ecological dimensions of music and sound reproduction technology.

Sound artist Simon Whetham has been exploring aspects of sound as a material for creation, unearthing obscured environmental sonic phenomena, acoustics and resonance, sonic energy and transduction. His projects are increasingly multi-disciplinary, becoming more visual, performative and tangible, exploring physical sound traces and transforming energy forms. Published works have been released through Mappa, Kohlhaas, Line, Crónica, Misanthropic Agenda and Falt. He has collaborated with many sound artists/musicians: Tarab, Gregory Büttner, Scanner, Derek Piotr, John Grzinich, Alan Courtis, Kate Carr, Rhodri Davies… Whetham participates in various international artist residencies, and performs and exhibits internationally.

Production: MoTa- Muzej tranzitorne umetnosti, SONICA, Cankarjev dom & European Media Art Platform / EMARE.