Untitled States

Sound and light installation, using as its genesis an audio recording of an ox being slaughtered.

Scream (Guernica)

An action at the Reina Sofia, Spain’s national gallery, whereby actresses, performers and members of museum staff were invited to scream at Picasso’s Guernica.

Le Marché Oriental

A 2-minute intervention inside Cape Town’s disused Oriental Plaza, an Apartheid-era shopping mall designed to control Indian trade. On the 4th day of Ramadan, 2008, Sheikh Mogamat Moerat of District Six’s Zeenatul Islam Majid mosque was invited to sing the call to prayer inside the empty remains of the building a few weeks prior to its demolition to make way for luxury apartments.

The Black Passage

A 20m deep black tunnel fitted with a bank of speakers at the end broadcasting a recording of an empty elevator cage descending the South Deep mine; the deepest twin-shaft goldmine in the world.

Autohagiography

 

Voice recordings of the myself under hypnosis, accessing my “past lives,” broadcast from speakers fitted into a black, leather chaise longue.

There's No Place Called Home (Johannesburg)

 

Calls of non-migratory Nigerian birds broadcast out of speakers concealed in South African trees in Joubert Park, Johannesburg.

There's No Place Called Home (Johannesburg)

 

Calls of restricted-range Chinese birds broadcast from speakers concealed in South African trees in Joubert Park, Johannesburg.

Untitled

 

Electrical lights tuned to flicker an undisclosed message in Morse code.

There's No Place Called Home (South Africa)

 

Japanese winter birdcalls broadcast from speakers concealed in South African trees during midsummer.

There's No Place Called Home (Japan)

 

South African summer birdcalls broadcast from speakers concealed in Japanese trees during midwinter.

Saturday night can be the loneliest place on earth

 

I hacked into the Space World parking lot’s public address system, interrupting their Muzak, with an 8-second transmission of outer space atmospherics (impulsive signals emitted by lightning strokes, relayed live using a VLF receiver) so that Space World could, on a lonely Saturday night, receive an actual message from space.

September 1st

 

75 people were invited to an event, but were told nothing about what would happen that night, only that they were to be ready at 7pm on the 1st of September. At that time, drivers arrived at their houses, had the participants sign indemnity forms, blindfolded them and took them, by car, through the city to an undisclosed location. Given no information, and sworn to silence, secrecy and blindfolded at all times, the participants were led through a series of lifts and passageways until they were seated in a room and a sound concert was performed by Francisco López. Just before the concert concluded, the audience were led out of the venue and back to the driver’s cars, and driven back to their respective homes. Back home they were un-masked and told nothing of what went on that evening.

Wa

 

I invented a Japanese DJ named Wa to perform at a large Cape Town party. I wrote the music she would perform and sourced an unknown Asian actress to learn basic DJ’ing skills and perform as Wa. I kept her original identity a secret, and advertised the gig to the point where people were taking about Wa as if they owned her (non-existent) albums. Her performance of ear-splitting noise lasted 15 minutes in front of a crowd of over 1500 people. Titled “Yumei na wa ju go pun,” and loosely translating as “15 minutes of fame,” the gig’s highlights were broadcast on national television.

Untitled

An electrical light, suspended from a lakeside tree, tuned to flash an undisclosed message in Morse code.

There’s No Place Called Home (Argentina)

 

Bird distress calls relayed from speakers hidden in Argentinean trees, San Telmo, Argentina.

There's No Place Called Home (Brandon LaBelle / Wein)

 

There's No Place Called Home (China)

 

Calls of South African carnivorous birds broadcast from tape-recorders planted in Chinese trees along the Pearl River.

Prayer

This installation consists of prayers from a diverse range of faiths recorded on site in Cape Town. The prayers are presented on floor-based speakers. As the audience enter the room they hear all the speakers at once, creating a vocal collage, and only when a listener kneels down at an individual speaker do they hear that particular prayer. This kneeling, referencing the acts of genuflection and supplication, is an important element in the work. The prayers loop unsynchronised, creating new combinations of voice, melody and language.

Listening to The World Today

 

For this project, I miked up Cape Town from 12 points of historical, political and economic significance in order to capture the sound of the Noonday Gun on a particular day. The Noonday Gun was first fired in 1794, by British colonial forces when they annexed the Dutch Cape Colony. It has been fired every day since then, and has become somewhat of an ahistorical act.

The sound, sampled in these areas, contains the unique makeup of each of the sites it was recorded from. Through their sound, these sites speak of their history and socio-political dynamics.

The final work comprised of each of the 12 recordings of the Noonday Gun being spliced together to flow in a sequence of 5-second sound clips, forming a 1-minute radio artwork.

The Autumn Project

 

Unbeknownst to others, for 3-months I accepted all invitations given to me.

Submission

 

Madrid

Collaborative projects, workshops and interventions in Madrid under the auspices of MediaLab Prado.

Namaqualand

Collaborative workshops, rituals and performances with Dawn Langdown and the dancers of Namjive, Okiep, Namaqualand, South Africa.

Welcome to South Africa

 

For Brandon LaBelle's first visit to South Africa I had the students of the Michaelis School of Fine Art blindfold him and give him a 75-minute tour of Cape Town.

The World Will Listen

 

A 4'33'' power failure instigated at a gallery opening.

The World Will Listen

 

Homme Alone

 

I smuggled books about Morrissey into the Centre for Contemporary Art Kitakyushu’s library. I made a plastic folder identical to the ones that the library used to store its books, and typed up a label simply saying “MORRISSEY.” As another aspect to the intervention, I curated some of the library’s collection of magazines that contained articles on Morrissey into my 5th column display.

Pachinko / Chinko

 

Found neon sign, Yahatahigashiku, Japan. ("Chinko" translates as 'penis' in Japanese slang)

Hope Springs Eternal

 

Removal of specific letters from found text, Gion, Japan.

Always Hoping, Never Forgetting

A short-wave radio, tuned to the airport’s control tower signal is played in a bird shop.

Untitled

Electrical lights tuned to flicker an undisclosed message in Morse code.

Echo (Beijing)

 

Clandestine public performance with participant’s mobile phones set to loudspeaker mode, transmitting mating calls of Burmese dragonflies, Tienanmen Square & The Forbidden City, People’s Republic of China.

Untitled

 

Electrical lights tuned to flicker an undisclosed message in Morse code.

Oorverdowende Stilte

 

Radio Flirt

 

Utilising a series of mini-fm radio transmitters located throughout the building, visitors followed traces of incomplete messages, hidden whispers or trembling static that appear as an ambiguous and secret narrative. Created with Brandon LaBelle, “Radio Flirt” is now available in CD catalogue version: http://www.room40.org/releases-radioflirt.shtml

Kamikaze

 

An installation comprising of a speaker in the centre of 12 very powerful halogen lights. The audio used was a loop of my breath recorded in the space. The lights drew power from every other room in the gallery.

There are far too few Friday nights left in the world

 

This 5-channel DVD installation, created with Matthew Kalil, involves five young South African women singing along to Brenda Fassie’s hit “Weekend Special”. As they can’t hear their own voices above the music playing in their headphones, they sing out of tune. The chorusing effect of the synchronised videos softens the sharp tonality of their individual off-key voices, creating an awkward but nevertheless forgiving and lovely harmony.

Like it, but can't afford it

 

Playing on the system of small, circular red stickers indicating that an artwork is sold, and green stickers denoting an artwork as reserved, artist Jo O’Connor and I issued commercial gallery audiences with yellow stickers signifying “like it, but can’t afford it.”

Namibia

 

Field recording projects in Namibia with Francisco López

Amazon

 

Field recording projects in the Amazon jungle with Francisco López

China

 

Field recording projects in China.

South Africa

 

Field recording projects in the South African Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal provinces with Francisco López

Japan

 

Field recording projects in Japan.

The Sound Of One Man Clapping