Shilpa Gupta installation

Walking into the exhibition, I was greeted by motion flap boards spelling poetry out. The sound of the flap board was rich in texture, becoming an enthralling sonic experience. I enjoyed listening to this just by sitting down on the bench next to it as it was all that was needed for a simple yet thick sound.

Whilst most of the poetry was not to my liking, one in particular, caught my attention.

The idea of an instrument being banned inspired my audio paper for Sound Studies & Aural Cultures. Later developed into “How Nazis controlled sound”

In the next room was the main exhibition. Following the Barbican website, the installation was composed of 100 microphone speakers hanging above spikes with impaled poetry. This poetry is from a poet who was burned for this writings. Alternating languages, poetry from the 8th to the 21st century is spoken through the microphone speakers at different intervals and with varying amounts of voices reading these scriptures. Each voice had one speaker, creating an immersive sonic installation. Due to this, my favourite way to listen to this piece was to walk around, through the speakers and around the exhibition.

Sources

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/shilpa-gupta-sun-at-night