Susan Hawkins · The Perceiving of Sound

25.03.2023 - 01.04.2023

11am Saturday, 25th of March: Susan Hawkins and Naomi Evans in Conversation

Susan Hawkins, The Perceiving of Sound, Installation View.

In January–February 2020 I undertook the Art Gallery of NSW Moya Dyring Studio Residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris. I initially went in search of one of the oldest French instruments, the épinette des Vosges, a timber-stringed instrument that is still being made in in Mirecourt, a commune in the Vosges department in northeastern France. On my return to Paris, I took sound recordings around the city, of sirens, bells, and musicians in the white-tiled metro. As John Cage notes, all places have their own sound mark.

On my return to Brisbane I worked with Joseph Burgess to make the sound scape for The Perceiving of Sound using the recordings from the sound scape of Paris.

– Susan Hawkins

The Perceiving of Sound is an installation of found objects, including timber furniture, cable sleeves, brass kempul gongs, found drop sheets, the épinette des Vosges, a DC motor and crystals. The viewer is encouraged to closely move through this soundscape and feel the sound, sit, lay and touch. It is an immersive sound work where the viewer can partake in their own personal experience of perceiving sound.

Credits:
Emma Harrison: Videographer
Zachary Lopez: Performance
Joseph Burgess: Soundtrack

Based in Brisbane, Susan Hawkins’ practice spans sculpture, object and sound-based practice. She uses reclaimed industrial and domestic objects and incorporates motors and sound to create sculptures and installations for both art galleries and the public realm. She is interested in how these objects reference forgotten symbolic power while playfully altering them to highlight the symbolic bias of our personal and public surroundings.

Originally from Gunnedah, NSW, Hawkins completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Queensland College of Art in 2014 with a double major in Sculpture, Jewellery and Small Objects. She has presented four major solo exhibitions: Make of Me, Blindside, Melbourne, 2016; The Remainder, Metro Arts Residency Program, Brisbane, 2017; The Speaker, Outer Space Artist Run Initiative, Brisbane, 2019; and Considering Space, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, 2019. Hawkins has also presented work through Brisbane’s people+artist+place at Howard Smith Wharfs, Brisbane, 2019, for Metro Arts as part of Brisbane City Council’s Temporary Public Art program.

An iteration of The Perceiving of Sound was presented at Firstdraft in 2021.

Download the roomsheet here.