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As part of her residency at Space 118, London-based visual artist Alia Pathan is set to conduct two intriguing workshops in the city-one on animation, and the other on sound art. When asked what exactly `sound art' entails, Pathan feels it is just another medium to communicate an idea or a moment. “Just like how paint and videos are art mediums," she adds. “It has a huge history in visual arts, right back to the Surrealists and Fluxus movements, but you could also consider experimental music to fit into the description of `sound art' today." Excerpts from an interview with the artist:
Is the sound art workshop open to everyone?
Yes, it is open to all, and not just artists. It is geared more towards beginners, perhaps people who have an interest in sound-making and want to explore different techniques and share ideas with each other. Perhaps learn new things about sound and its place in the contemporary art world.
What does the class entail?
For the workshop, I'll be going over some key influences from my art and music practice and will be introducing listening and performance exercises. We will also go through the basics of location recording, historical and contempo rary references -and by the end, we'll have what we consider to be a `score'.
Participants have been asked to bring along “inspiring material". Why is that, and what would you deem inspiring?
I'm inviting people to bring objects from their homes. These could be anything they like, from cooking utensils to clothes -even if it doesn't `make' a sound. It could be any object that inspires them or makes them feel a certain way.I have a couple of instruments here, but I'm keen to see how we can make our own as well from these items.
Also, there is always material around us that has the potential to move us -or do the opposite, and that's fine too. Even in a city you might know so well, you can always impact the way you look at it, the way you listen to it. I'm lucky to be in Mumbai for this residency because there's so much to draw from. I will probably take inspiration from the local; that we're near a major shipping port that connects us worldwide -it's a recurring influence in my work.
The tracks created will be uploaded online. Is this part of any project that you are currently working on?
Yes, I'm working on a research project funded by Arts Council England, preliminarily called White Tiger Project. Part of my project involves doing a residency at Space 118. I'm also building an audio archive of second generation East African Indian diaspora, so it will be very interesting to see what is produced here during the workshops, and the relationships between various sets of sound recordings when I return to London.
I'm uploading the works to the web to get a grip on the different channels of dissemination or exhibition which sit outside the usual white-walled gallery spaces.It will also be a way of collecting sounds into an album or track list that can be shared easily.
The workshop will be held on Apr 8, 10 am to 3 pm at Space 118, Mazagaon. Entry: Rs 2,000 (inclusive of all material). For registration, Call: 9820098755