I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE UNDER MY FEET

Carly Fischer (sound in collaboration with Edwina Stevens)

Exhibited at Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne. Feb-March 2019.

I feel the earth move under my feet is a sculptural and audio response to research undertaken at Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West in Maribyrnong. The work investigates 3 intersecting narratives of time, place and volatility specific to the site; its ancient volcanic landscape, its industrial history of women working in explosives factories and the material disintegration of its archived oral histories. Through sampling archives, sounds and objects collected and inspired by the site, the installation reconstructs an alternate audio and sculptural narrative that shifts between past and present. Developed in collaboration with sound artist Edwina Stevens, the installation’s soundscape resurrects some of the hidden histories and voices of Melbourne’s West to speak through the material fragments of its contemporary context.

Using samples of archival interviews with the women, readings of geological publications and newspapers, field recordings and synthesised sounds, the installation weaves a sonic narrative in conversation with found and fabricated sculptural fragments of the past and present site. Embedded in the sculptural materiality of the installation, the 5 channel soundscape emerges through clusters of vintage speakers and sculptures, acting as conduits for the resurrected voices that float around the space. Disintegrating and reconstructed archival boxes and factory signs merge with the women’s wartime anecdotes of danger, volatility and feminism; a kettle starts boiling, merging into a volcanic rumbling around ancient basalt rocks and construction site debris; past and present geological, industrial and feminist narratives of Melbourne meet, merge and shapeshift around the space.

Above is a 2 minute video documentation of the sound and sculptural installation.

Below is the the full stereo broadcast edit of the soundscape. This piece was submitted and successful in application to be included in the 2 week broadcast event ‘Radiophrenia’ (Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Art, Scotland) 2019.

I feel the earth move under my feet (2019). Installation views at Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne. Pine, MDF, basalt, besser blocks, bricks, cotton, adhesives, acrylic paint, mirrors, speakers, speaker wire and 40 minute looped soundscape (in collaboration with Edwina Stevens). Photos: Matthew Stanton.

Carly Fischer is a sculptural and audio installation artist from Melbourne, Australia. Her work explores some of the hidden histories and mythologies of places, excavating forgotten fragments of the past to reflect on cultural narratives of the present. Adopting an archaeological process of collecting objects, sounds and stories from place to place, her installations weave found and fabricated fragments into alternate narratives that suggest a more ambiguous contemporary context. Edwina Stevens is an audio-visual artist from Dunedin, New Zealand/ Melbourne, Australia working across live performance, installation and spatial sound design. Her work investigates the 'sound of place' via composition, improvisation and performance, working with analogue signal frequencies/synthesis, found acoustic instruments, site specific acoustic elements and field recordings. Carly and Edwina began collaborating in 2018, through a shared interest in the sonic and sculptural materiality of place.

Carly Fischer https://carlyfischer.com/

Edwina Stevens https://www.disrhythms.net/