On Something is a project commissioned by MOCA London in 2021 for their Web Exhibition (WE) series, which grew from their earlier experimentation to find ways of engaging audiences online during Covid lockdown. MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) is a museum, gallery, and project space in Peckham, South London.
On Something emerged incrementally as a series of Instagram videos produced through a month of studio experimentation exploring the interaction of sound, images, objects and words in a three dimensional physical space.
At the beginning of May 2021, the George Floyd murder trial was impossible to ignore: the starting point for the first video was the justification given by Derek Chauvin for his use of excessive force, i.e. that Mr Floyd was “large” and that he appeared to be “on something”. The sound for the first video is feedback produced with a loudhailer, symbolic of the protests around George's murder at the hands of the police. The remainder of the twelve pieces developed in a progressive, aleatoric way, with loose formal and thematic threads running throughout. They all involve some sort of interactivity between sound and image, though the relationship is more direct and discernible in some cases than in others. I see the individual pieces as sketches for further installation and performance work, but also as miniatures that stand on their own as loops designed for online viewing.
If possible, please listen on good speakers or headphones.