Sonic Fictions
2023-2024
recorded sound, sampled relaxation tracks of cicadas, samples from nature documentary foley recordings, recordings of hunting bird calls, scientist recording of termites, artist proof of William C. Gorgas by Bryant Baker, bug glue, insects, soil, brass musical instruments, ATV exhaust pipes, truck exhaust pipe, rotting fence posts, salt lick rock, extension cords, plaster, military pins
recorded sound, sampled relaxation tracks of cicadas, samples from nature documentary foley recordings, recordings of hunting bird calls, scientist recording of termites, artist proof of William C. Gorgas by Bryant Baker, bug glue, insects, soil, brass musical instruments, ATV exhaust pipes, truck exhaust pipe, rotting fence posts, salt lick rock, extension cords, plaster, military pins
Sonic Fictions is an exhibition comprised of exhaust pipes, hunting paraphernalia, and fragments of imperialist monuments scattered across a fallow landscape and bathed in sickly blue light. Sound emanates from the components — recordings of insect infestations, ATV excursions, and foley from nature documentaries combine into a multi-channel audio installation. Resting on an elevated platform covered in mud and crisscrossed by tire tracks, each sculpture exists in limbo between life and death, culminating in a natural history of the Plantationocene.
At the core of the installation is a plaster artist-proof bust of William Gorgas sculpted by the monument maker Byant Baker. Gorgas is credited with completing the Panama Canal through the revelation of mosquito-born disease, after 20,000 workers died from Yellow Fever and Malaria in earlier attempts to bridge the two oceans. Gorgas eradicated most of the mosquito population, allowing for US control of the Panamanian isthmus and therefore a significant portion of influence in the Americas. The plaster bust within the installation is coated in bug glue for protecting trees from invasive insects, forever collecting more carcasses and further obscuring the likeness of Gorgas.
At the core of the installation is a plaster artist-proof bust of William Gorgas sculpted by the monument maker Byant Baker. Gorgas is credited with completing the Panama Canal through the revelation of mosquito-born disease, after 20,000 workers died from Yellow Fever and Malaria in earlier attempts to bridge the two oceans. Gorgas eradicated most of the mosquito population, allowing for US control of the Panamanian isthmus and therefore a significant portion of influence in the Americas. The plaster bust within the installation is coated in bug glue for protecting trees from invasive insects, forever collecting more carcasses and further obscuring the likeness of Gorgas.
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