"Attune" (2021) explores possibilities of an unlikely duet as it speaks to complexities within dyadic relations. Comprising of an empty double bass and harp case emitting the voices of their lost instruments, these cases behave as both, imprint and shell, cast and cavity, their multiplicities revealed in an unpredictable tune. Modified as functional speakers, these two cases broadcast an original score by composer Mikhaila Alyssa Smith.

Created as a response to the objects and their specific resonant frequencies, this work is a psychoacoustic exploration of attunement, as as “performance of behaviours that express the quality of feeling of a shared affect state, ” without a sense of imitation, nor the desire to fuse. This is highlighted sonically through the intersections and dissonances of the two voices interpreting an aleatoric score, in two keys set apart by a single semitone. This work aims to create an environment which articulates an experience of proximity and the unfolding of self with other.

Positioned between the cases, the listener is engages with the flux of visible and invisible objects,“focusing on the ephemeral exactly” (Voegelin, 2010, 11-13).

This installation was exhibited as part of CIRCA, Everard Read Cape Town's "Cubicle" Series, 11-30 January 2021.

Attune (2021)

Interdisciplinary artist based in Cape Town.

Attune (2021)

Mia Thom