Voices from the Other Room
When I was much younger, bedtime came just after a late dinner. I’d fall asleep with my ear pressed to the floorboards, listening to the music my dad and other musicians were playing downstairs. The sounds would permeate through the wood and enter into my dreams, soft melodies becoming part of my sleep.
My degree show piece and its soundscape emulate that feeling for the viewer. Voices from the Other Room invite the onlooker to enter the installation, weaving through the suspensions to rest comfortably and stay for as long as they would like.
In recent months, I’ve brought together a group of musicians to experiment with collective improvisation, aiming to make performance more accessible to untrained players. Inspired by North African improvisational culture—where playing together is instinctive and organic—these sessions became spaces of cultural hybridity, combining violins, trumpets, mic’d-up tape recorders, and Elektron boxes the installation of traditional instruments and wiring. The performances have since evolved into a socially engaged practice, with invitations extended to the local Garnethill community, including Garnetbank Primary School and the Garnethill Multicultural Centre.
Culturally-rooted, diverse hand-made instruments hang in mid-suspension, amplified through hand-built contact microphones. Here, wiring is celebrated, playing with the intersections between tradition and electronica, between digital and analogue.
A family tea set and audio mixer stand together to reflect this balance, with spiralling cables enveloping the installation.
The soundscape weaves samples from my brother David Balilty’s music and from singer Mariem Hassan, whose song ‘Magat Milkitna Dulaa’ was a favourite of mine and my dad’s. This is all for him.
15-minute audio loop with 2.5-minute interval
For Sale
