The exhibition What is moved moves by Siri Austeen features a multi-channel sculptural installation exploring sound as medium and material, part of her ongoing project 'Soniske forplantninger'.
Following a personal loss, the main work is a 4 channel sculptural installation and part of Austeen's multi-year project Soniske forplantninger (Sonic Propagations) which explores listening strategies. Positioned on the floor and hanging from the ceiling are hand-coloured car windows. Contact speakers mounted on transmit sound vibrations to the glass, transforming the car windows into speaker membranes. In this landscape stands also a semi-acoustic bass instrument built by Austeen.
Saturday June 1st, Austeen performs her own material through the bass instrument, her saxopet (a prepared cornet) and through song and recitation. In conjunction with the performance Austeen's freshly produced cassette is released on Breton Cassette –with unique handmade packaging and printed materials in an edition of 30 copies. Here, Austeen's sonic and textual performance universe is remixed with vocal and instrumental elements and field recordings. The cassette, Tides and Wanderings, can be bought digitally here, and Lydgalleriet also have a physical version of it in the listening library.
A recurring theme in Austeen's work is the intervention of the individual, collective and ecological structures in one another. What is moved moves addresses topics related to our ways of listening, the moments when one's own listening position is disrupted, and how this position expands towards the surroundings in new ways. Another central question in Austeen's practice relates to the phenomenon of witnessing and bearing witness.
Hanging in the upper part of Lydgalleriet is a framed piece of handmade birch paper, originating from the 103-year-old tree that was felled at the Falstad Center in 2023. The site's history, including its role as Norway's largest concentration camp between 1941-45, has given the birch tree the status of a silent witness. This part of Austeen's project is inspired by Susan Bickford's "The Dissonance of Democracy: Listening, Conflict and Citizenship", and the act of listening as an act of empathy, caring and respect, but not necessarily reserved for reaching agreement.
The exhibition is supported by Arts Council Norway, The Visual Artists' Aid Fund and the Visual Artists' Remuneration Fund. Curated by Julie Lillelien Porter and co-produced by Lydgalleriet.