Dystopia

(Sound installation)

Evobox Evolution House 2013.

We live in an image rich world; the most horrific acts are available on line. Unimaginable horror is free and readily available to anyone who wants to see it. When considering the subject of dystopia, the thought of using images was not appealing for this reason.

I have to therefore, consider why I feel afraid, or uncomfortable in my surroundings. In my opinion, the unseen and things we don’t understand are what makes us fearful. The thing under the bed that makes you too afraid to move. It is in your head and I wanted to visit this place, but how?

Sound is believe, the right medium. I therefore began listening to sounds and thinking about how they make me feel. Starting with familiar background sounds like bird song against the sound of foot steps in dry leaves. This did not fit the idea of dystopia, I therefore found gun shot sounds, people panicking but this was too obvious. The sounds I settled on are much more abstract, unfamiliar, in the dark of the space, your mind is free to scare you, make you very uncomfortable.