sonic confession

‘in Western culture we talk about a mystic seeing things, but an insane person hears things’

Vito Acconci

This piece explores the danger of inner hearing and inner sounds. Despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence that auditory hallucinations are more ‘dangerous’ than other hallucinations, ‘hearing things’ still often evokes a sense of dread. The piece explores this undercurrent of fear and danger that is often associated with inner sounds and listening. It does that by positioning the one-to-one performance as a visit to the Sound Doctor, who will be able to help you control your (bad!) inner sounds (or so she claims). The participants are asked to confess the darkest, most secret inner sounds during the ‘appointment’, and the Sound Doctor seems a bit more interested than she should be in finding out more about these sounds.

The piece seeks to explore out complex relationship with inner sounds and hearing and its association with auditory hallucinations. While it in no way seeks to deny that some inner hearing and listening experiences may indeed be both frightening and, occasionally, dangerous, it instead asks if perhaps those ‘dangerous’ inner sounds also have value and can tell us something about our relationship to sound and listening. 

Riga Performance Festival, Riga 2019

Bring Your Own Performance, SPACE Galleries 2018

Elastic Performance Festival, Oxford, 2017

Holborn Treatment Rooms, 2017