A multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. 

Each speaker transmits its own separate selection of recordings, arranged consecutively and looped, so that when all speakers play at the same time an ever-changing sound environment is experienced. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work. 

The project started in 1999 and is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

http://www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Prayer

A missing muse. Talking statues. The ninth of eight. A fire in the theatre at the moment Mars was at its apex above the site. A machine capable of generating the sound of a ghastly storm. The Belle of an Architect. An opera waiting for its fourth act. A theatre built by a family of ship-builders must surely be a ship.

James Webb, “La Syzygie,” 2016, a multi-dimensional reading of the Théâtre Graslin, commissioned by Le Voyage à Nantes. The artist invited various local specialists to visit the 18th century opera house and read the space through the lens of their own disciplines. The guests included Xavier Fouquet, an architect; Bernard Duchatelle, astrologer; Christine Gross, theatre historian, Régis Vasseur, technical director of the Théâtre Graslin; Stéphane Barbreau, psychic, and Daniel Dumoulin, psychologist. The resulting information, as well as various other cartographic, literary, and photographic research was shared with the playwright, Louis Viljoen, who was commissioned to write a script for the actors Melodie Abad and Olivier Birene, as well as Maxime Deluc, Didier Moestus, Nadegé Sanz, Marie Roux, and Jean-pierre Whitfield, to voice. The theatre is transformed into a psycho-architectural environment populated by voices, sounds, and shadows relating to the building’s past, present, and future, referencing conditions and techniques of séance, exorcism, and psychoanalysis. Audience members sat in the auditorium and experienced a phantasmagoria of events, dreams, and histories suggested by the magnificent building itself.

La Syzygie also comprised parallel artworks and methodologies including “The Ninth of Eight,” “A Series Of Personal Questions Addressed To The Théâtre Graslin,” and “L'esprit de l’escalier.’

La Syzygie featured operatic aria sung by Athenkosi Cornelia Hoyi and Xolane Mokoena WaNkopane, Franz Liszt’s Wilde Jag performed by Coila Enderstein, and the rehearsals of the Stellenbosch University Student Orchestra, recorded by Gerhard Roux. The principle voice recordings were engineered by Dave Langemann. Installation and technical team were Pierrot Congratel, Valentine Moreau and Benjamin Richard. French to English translations of research by Christopher Silva. English to French translations of the script by Audrey Petit-Trigg. Cape Town studio assistance by Antonia Brown. Rehearsals conducted at La Grenadine, Cape Town. Curated by David Moinard, co-curated and produced by Jenna Darde for Le Voyage à Nantes. Photograph credit: Hippolyte Dominique Berteaux’s 1881 painting on the ceiling of the auditorium of the Théâtre Graslin, Nantes, by Bernard Renoux.

Courtesy the artist, Le Voyage à Nantes, blank projects, and Galerie Imane Farès.

La Syzygie

In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses spoken questions to selected objects as if they were sentient beings able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. Each set of questions is written specifically for that chosen object. No answers are written, given, or suggested, and a pause of approximately 10-seconds is taken between each question.

Started in 2016, this artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts, and the questions serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

A Series Of Personal Questions

Sketch towards upcoming sound installation. More details to follow.

As yet untitled (Stockholm, 19 May 2021, 22h46: Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars above the horizon)

“Nothing here does not hear you” is a site specific, sound installation created from research made into the space formerly known as the 1820 Settler’s Monument in Makhanda. The process began when a group of individuals were invited to take a walk through the building and its environs to talk about the situation. The guests included historians, cultural workers, political activists, and sangomas, as well as members of the building’s maintenance and technical staff.

All the interviewees spoke in different ways of blockages, barriers, clots, stuck places, and obstacles. The building, and the land in particular, was spoken of as an energy that needs to be listened and attended to: the Monument has to be rethought, opened up, and become many monuments.

The recorded interviews were shared with a writer who developed a series of texts that could, when spoken, work as blessings. These ideas form a manifesto of spiritual intent: an opening of channels, a putting to rest the uneasiness, a calling for creativity and wisdom, and a token of gratitude for lessons learnt and lessons to come. The text is vocalised in soft voices, reminiscent of lullabies, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), and mantra, and in whispers, referencing stage cues as well as the focused transmission of special knowledge. When broadcast in the space these voices might be thought of as working towards a subtle, sonic reorientation of the building.

The blessings are punctuated by 5 sets of sonic indexes summoning various metaphorical blockages so that they may be named and dispensed with.

The artwork is installed in the Bridge, an architectural folly in the building that offers a breathtaking perspective of Makhanda and the surrounding areas. The audio component is diffused through transducers attached to the windows of the room, turning the glass into speakers, and allowing for the sound to be linked with the view of the land.

This installation is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Maart who worked in the building and contributed to the project in a site reading. 

The work is live streamed below from “The Bridge” in the Monument Building looking out to the East over the city of Makhanda.

Research and interviews: Dr. Dominique Santos, James Webb
Invited site readers: Ayanda Kota, Brendon Wessels, Joseph Maart, Juanita Praeg, Prof. Julie Wells, Mbali Marais, Nicci Spalding, Nosipho Matini, Rev. Thebe Albert Shale, and Xolile “X” Madinda
Interview and location sound recordist: Kuhle Ngqezana
Writer: Louis Viljoen
Voices: Nombasa Maqoko, Dr. Hleze Kunju
Voice recording engineer: Elijah Madiba
Recording studio: International Library of African Music (ILAM)
Installation team: Guy Nelson, Darren Wolhuter, Armand Steenkamp, Benjamin Muir-Mills.
Thanks to Rucera Seethal, Nicci Spalding, Dominique Santos, Louis Viljoen, and Lina Kinning.

Nothing here does not hear you

An extract from a recording of Qari Abdurrahman Sadien as part of "Prayer (Cape Town)."

Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers.

Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.

The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway and the UK.

www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Qari Abdurrahman Sadien_Prayer (Cape Town)

A recorded voice addresses questions the city of Lyon. In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses a series of questions to select objects and/or space as if they were able to respond. The installation takes the form of the presentation of the particular object/space, e.g. the museum, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. The audio speaker broadcasts the series of questions addressed to the museum. Time is given between each question for the object to reply, and for the audience to consider their own responses to the questions and the situation.

The artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object would have had its own, unique set of experiences. The form of address seeks to honour the object and create a space for it to speak in its own way. The questions - and the audience’s projected answers - furthermore serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

The artwork began in 2016 and has been realised in various locations with various objects. For this edition, the artist poses questions to the city itself. Lyon, formerly Lugdunum, rests on the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, and has played a central role in the region for centuries. From Roman occupation and medieval religious conflict, to the  industrial boom of the silk trade and the birthplace of cinema, the city is here approached as a complex host of histories and psychologies.

This artwork, conceptually the biggest in the series, is located in two remarkable locations: the Jardin du palais Saint-Pierre, a courtyard garden inside the Musee des Beaux-Arts, and the Parc de la Tête d'Or, the largest urban park in the region. 

The questions were written specifically for the city of Lyon, translated into French by Nathalie Bourgeois and Boris Atrux-Tallau, and recorded bilingually by Sylvaine Strike. Recording was done by Dave Langemann.

Note: The audio in this clip is an edited extract of a longer piece. The durations of "silence" between each question are longer in the installation.

Exhibited as part of “Manifesto of Fragility,” curated by Sam Bardouil and Till Fellrath for the 16th Biennale de Lyon in 2022.

Voice: Sylvaine Strike

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to the city of Lyon as it stands now

A recorded voice addresses questions the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon. In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses a series of questions to select objects and/or space as if they were able to respond. The installation takes the form of the presentation of the particular object/space, e.g. the museum, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. The audio speaker broadcasts the series of questions addressed to the museum. Time is given between each question for the object to reply, and for the audience to consider their own responses to the questions and the situation.

The artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object would have had its own, unique set of experiences. The form of address seeks to honour the object and create a space for it to speak in its own way. The questions - and the audience’s projected answers - furthermore serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

The artwork began in 2016 and has been realised in various locations with various objects. For this edition, commissioned for the 16th Biennale de Lyon, the artist researched the building that is the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon. This space has a formative connection to the old trade fairs that once occupied the area, and its facade harks back to when the building was the Palais de la Foire. The rest of the building was designed and built by Renzo Piano. The space hosted the 22nd G7 summit, as well as the Biennale of Lyon.

The questions were written specifically for the macLyon, translated into French by Nathalie Bourgeois and Boris Atrux-Tallau, and recorded bilingually by Sylvaine Strike. Recording was done by Dave Langemann.

Note: The audio in this clip is an edited extract of a longer piece. The durations of "silence" between each question are longer in the installation.

Exhibited as part of “Manifesto of Fragility,” curated by Sam Bardouil and Till Fellrath for the 16th Biennale de Lyon in 2022.

Voice: Sylvaine Strike

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon_French version

Example of “A series of personal questions addressed to the River Rhine,” 2023. Please note that these are selected, highlighted excerpts of the audio, and the pauses between each question in the installations are longer.

A voice poses questions to the River Rhine.

For the Monheim Triennale, audio speakers have been placed along the riverbanks to broadcast questions addressed directly to the river. Each question lingers in the air with a pause of 12 seconds before the next question is asked.

The Rhine is the second longest river in Central Europe; a source of life in and on the water, and a natural border in the landscape. Affected by trade and settlement over centuries, the river has experienced countless histories, life cycles, and transformations. The Rhine was used as a pathway for Viking exploration, Roman expansion, the propagation of Lutheranism, and the terror of the Malleus Maleficarum. Today, the Rhine is a symbol; a troubled, romantic image; a political player; and a wounded entity that suffers from neglect as much as from human poisoning and industrial waste.

Themes connecting to, amongst others, the river’s timescale, vast ecosystems, memories, and the many myths created around it are explored in the questions. The artwork is ongoing and unfolding with the possibility of further questions being added later.

The Triennale runs in Monheim am Rhein from 3 June to 2 July. For more information, follow @monheimtriennale

The series began in 2016 and this particular version has its conceptual roots in 2017 while on a residency at @ateliermondialart in Basel.
Research was augmented in a writing workshop in March 2023 conducted with members of the Ulla Hahn Haus close to the river.

Curated by Frank Schulte & Kathrin Jentjens
Produced by Lukas Becker. Technical installation by Niklas Werani

English - German translations: Barbara Hess
Proofreader: Bettina Schultz
German voice: Yasmin Hankel
English voice: Victoria Davies
Studio engineer: Dave Langemann

153 questions
Bilingual duration: 01:27:03

Photograph by Niclas Weber

A series of personal questions addressed to the River Rhine_English language examples

A series of personal questions addressed to the River Rhine_German language examples

An excerpt from a series of recordings of a Sufi Dhikr performed by patients at the Drug Rehabilitation wing of the Sultan Bahu Centre in Mitchell's Plain, Cape Town, South Africa. The project is ongoing.

For more information on the Sultan Bahu Centre, the Rehab Centre, or to donate to this cause, please visit http://bahu.co.za/wp/drug-rehab/

Started by Shafiek Davids in 2005, the Sultan Bahu Centre is a non-profit organisation in the field of substance abuse – mainly heroin and methamphetamine (tik) – in both Mitchell’s Plain and Bonteheuwel. The centre operates as a drug treatment facility in lower socio-economic communities, offering a six-week intensive day programme with continual care thereafter. 

Sultan Bahu (1628 – 1691) was an Islamic scholar, poet and Sufi saint, founder of the Sawari Qadiri Sufi Order.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb or the Sultan Bahu Centre’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com 

Sultan Bahu Rehabilitation Centre_4

Sultan Bahu Rehabilitation Centre_6

A stereo mix of the quadrophonic sound installation, "Al Madat": a recording of a Sufi dhikr undertaken by patients at the Sultan Bahu Rehab Centre in Westridge, Mitchell’s Plain. Dhikr (literally, ‘remembrance’) is a traditional Islamic recitation, where sacred names are chanted with special breathing techniques, often creating trancelike effects. This practice was brought to the Cape with the Malay slaves, and is now used by the rehabilitation centre as an augmentation to the curative process. ‘Al Madat’, the specific dhikr used for this installation, translates as ‘help’, and is here used to implore the Prophet for assistance.

Started by Shafiek Davids in 2005, the Sultan Bahu Centre is a non-profit organisation in the field of substance abuse – mainly heroin and methamphetamine (tik) – in both Mitchell’s Plain and Bonteheuwel. The centre operates as a drug treatment facility in lower socio-economic communities, offering a six-week intensive day programme with continual care thereafter. 

Sultan Bahu (1628 – 1691) was an Islamic scholar, poet and Sufi saint, founder of the Sawari Qadiri Sufi Order.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Al Madat (stereo Mix)

Knowing the ways:  In the time of the indrawn breath
   
An audio recording made inside the former-R1 nuclear reactor hall underneath Stockholm of an ensemble of singers performing five of the Virtues (Humility, Love, Fear of God, Mercy, and Hope) from Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum (1151). 
 
Mounted on scaffolding as if propping up the Liljevalchs building, the six speakers switch between recordings from sixteen microphones: documenting the ways in which the singers’ voices activate the subterranean architecture of Sweden’s first nuclear project. 

St. Hildegard von Bingen (Bermersheim vor der Höhe, 1098 - 1179) was a German religious leader, composer, and botanist. Ordo Virtutum is a sacred music drama originally composed for the nuns of Rupertsberg Abbey where St. Hildegard was the Abbess. 

Ensemble: Lina Kinning (Humility), Caroline Lundgren Brandberg (Love), Ebba Edberg di Paola (Fear of God), Karin Olin (Hope), Anna Lagercrantz (Mercy).

Date: 2024
Materials: Scaffolding, speakers, audio
Dimensions: Variable
Format: 6-channel audio
Duration: 00:09:04 
Language: Latin

Knowing The Ways: In The Time Of The Indrawn Breath

A series of personal questions addressed to a Viking-age sword

A voice poses questions to a Viking-age sword.

In this ongoing series the artist poses spoken questions to selected objects; in this instance a Viking-age sword unearthed from a cairn in Barkarby in 1931, and now part of the collection of Historiska Museet.

The installation takes the form of the presentation of the sword and an audio speaker installed above where the audience are situated in relation to the object on display.

Swords carried great personal meaning for their owners and, understandably, have become the inspiration for folklore and legend. What might the sword have done, or failed to do in its lifetime? What are its feelings about violence and the use of Viking culture in contemporary images? What might it think its purpose is today? Through a series of 150 questions that stir memories and probe details, the artist’s intervention addresses the sword, opening up themes of power, narrative, and history.

English voice: Brendon Daniels
Recorded at Creative Native, Cape Town

Date of series: 2016 | Date of this edition: 2024
Materials: Viking-age sword (iron, copper, silver), speaker, audio
Dimensions: 70 x 10.3cm (Sword)
Format: Monophonic audio
Duration: 01:21:04
Language: Swedish, English
Sword loaned from Historiska Museet.

Translations: Isabel Sunnerö, Lovisa Tunedal, Anna Palmqvist, Lina Kinning
Proofreading: Bettina Schultz, Lina Kinning, Anna Palmqvist

Research assistance: Dr. Sven Kalmring, Professor Neil Price, Professor Sandra Klopper, Anthea Buys, Linda Qviström, Hannah Lewis, Thobile Ndenze, and Jonathan Olsson.

QR code video designed by Hoick, Cape Town.All rights reserved.

The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com

A Series Of Personal Questions Addressed To A Viking-age Sword English Excerpt

A series of personal questions addressed to a Viking-age sword

A voice poses questions to a Viking-age sword.

In this ongoing series the artist poses spoken questions to selected objects; in this instance a Viking-age sword unearthed from a cairn in Barkarby in 1931, and now part of the collection of Historiska Museet.

The installation takes the form of the presentation of the sword and an audio speaker installed above where the audience are situated in relation to the object on display.

Swords carried great personal meaning for their owners and, understandably, have become the inspiration for folklore and legend. What might the sword have done, or failed to do in its lifetime? What are its feelings about violence and the use of Viking culture in contemporary images? What might it think its purpose is today? Through a series of 150 questions that stir memories and probe details, the artist’s intervention addresses the sword, opening up themes of power, narrative, and history.

Swedish voice: Ann Petrén
Recorded at EMS, Stockholm

Date of series: 2016 | Date of this edition: 2024
Materials: Viking-age sword (iron, copper, silver), speaker, audio
Dimensions: 70 x 10.3cm (Sword)
Format: Monophonic audio
Duration: 01:21:04
Language: Swedish, English
Sword loaned from Historiska Museet.

Translations: Isabel Sunnerö, Lovisa Tunedal, Anna Palmqvist, Lina Kinning
Proofreading: Bettina Schultz, Lina Kinning, Anna Palmqvist

Research assistance: Dr. Sven Kalmring, Professor Neil Price, Professor Sandra Klopper, Anthea Buys, Linda Qviström, Hannah Lewis, Thobile Ndenze, and Jonathan Olsson.

QR code video designed by Hoick, Cape Town.All rights reserved. 

The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com

A Series Of Personal Questions Addressed To A Viking - Age Sword Swedish Excerpt

The Bronze Age Qijia peoples (2200 - 1700 BCE), named by the Swedish archeologist, Johan Gunnar Anderson, after the burial sites in Qijiaping, settled along the Upper Yellow River region and produced, amongst many other goods, handmade ceramics marked with crisscross patterning. This vessel, formerly in the private collection of a “West country gentleman” in Bath, UK,  is presented and staged with an audio speaker in relation to it. 

Questions probing deep time, regional geography, the multiple lives of objects, Qijia burial customs, and the antiques trade of the 20th century are explored in the questions.

The artwork was commissioned by Astrup Fearnley Museet for the exhibition, Between Rivers, curated by Owen Martin in 2024.

In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses spoken questions to selected objects as if they were sentient beings able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. Each set of questions is written specifically for that chosen object. No answers are written, given, or suggested, and a pause of approximately 10-seconds is taken between each question.

Started in 2016, this artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts, and the questions serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

Voice: Lesoko Seabe

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to a Neolithic clay vessel

“Salamat Sa Iyo” sung by Eleonor Quicho, Karen Lentini, and Kristine Itable, members of Houston FILAM International Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and recorded by Anthony Almendárez for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work. The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved. Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com


Houston FILAM International Seventh-Day Adventist Church_Prayer (Houston)

The HU Chant recorded by members of the Houston Eckankar Center for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” in 2024 at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

Featuring the voices of Adanma Onwuchekwa, Amala Momife, Betty Svoronos, Bosun Komolafe, Caran Wysong, Charles Parra, Damian Idjagboro, David Vargas, Festus Umatta, Fidelia Selormey, Fransisca Alanis-Ajao, Fubara Chuku, Gbadegesin Ilupeju, Geraldine Evans, Glory Osifo, Helen Lim, Jeffery Evans, Joe Salerno, Karen Brubaker Mayr, Lilian Audu, Marius Ugada, Michael Cruse, Milton N. Mayr Jr., Nicole Svoronos, Okite Obakponovwe, Olusola Komolafe, Rafiu Ajao, Randy Wagner, Robert VanLandingham, Samantha Lee, Sprio Svoronos, Uwakwe Onwuchekwa, and Virginia McElvain.

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.
 The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
 Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.
Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com


Houston Eckankar Center_Prayer (Houston)

A recording of "Mi Shebeirach" by Cantor Rollin Simmons of Congregation Emanu El, recorded by Anthony Almendárez, for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” in 2024 at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.

 The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Cantor Rollin Simmons_Prayer (Houston)

A recording of the Ik Onkar by Head Priest Bhai Harjit Singh Ji of the Gurdwara Sahib of SouthWest Houston for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” in 2024 at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work. The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com



Head Priest Bhai Harjit Singh Ji_Prayer (Houston)

A recording of the "Robe Verse" by members of the Houston Zen Center for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” in 2024 at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

Voices include Rev. Gyozan Royce Johnson, Kent Rutter, Vicki Glenn, Maite Martinez Leal, and Neely Atkinson

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.
 The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Houston Zen Center_Prayer (Houston)

A recording of "Dua Ahad" by Syed Mujtaba Abbas of the Islamic Education Center for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” in 2024 at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal. Additional recordings were made by Anthony Almendárez.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.
 The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
 Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com


Syed Mujtaba Abbas_Prayer (Houston)

A recording of Geshe Denma and Dr. Ale Chaoul of Ligmincha Texas, for “Prayer (Houston),” curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Lindsay Albert, and Jo-ey Tang for the exhibition, “Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions” in 2024 at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas.

The artwork was produced in 2024 by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, and KADIST.  Research, production, and outreach was conducted by Somyia Hilal and Zaynab Hilal.
 
Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.
 The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
 Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com


Lingmincha Texas_Prayer (Houston)

A recording of Nazanin Zangeneh of the Baha'i - Samfundet I Malmö as part of "Prayer (Malmö)" presented at Wanås Konst in 2015, curated by Elisabeth Millqvist, with production assistance by Albin Hillervik.

Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers.

Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.

The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway and the UK.

www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Bahá'í - Samfundet I Malmö_Prayer (Malmö)

"The sea has decided for us"
An arrangement of the final verse of the folksong, ‘The Mermaid’, sung from the perspective of the eponymous character.

Musical arrangement based on traditional folksong: Cara Stacey
Voices: Lina Kinning
Lyrics: Eliza Pace transcribed by Cecil J. Sharpe in 1917.


2025
Audio installation (audio, speaker, cables)
Duration 00:12:48 including pauses; installation dimensions variable

The sea has decided for us

A series of personal questions addressed to the Folgefonna glacier

A recording of members of Birmingham Eckankar as part of "Prayer (Birmingham)" presented at the Fierce Festival 2011, curated by Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison.

Started in 2000, Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers.

Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.

The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK.

www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Birmingham Eckankar_Prayer (Birmingham)

A recording of Father Mihai Razvan Novasovschi from the Romanian Orthodox Church as part of "Prayer (Birmingham)" presented at the Fierce Festival 2011, curated by Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison.

Started in 2000, Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers.

Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.

The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK.

www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Romanian Orthodox Church_Prayer (Birmingham)

Extract from a sound installation featuring a solar-powered, multi-channel loudspeaker system broadcasting recordings of hands beating on doors.

http://theotherjameswebb.tumblr.com/post/138238218829/untitled-with-the-sound-of-its-own-making

Date: 2016
Dimensions: 300 x 500 x 100cm
Duration: 00:18:13
Medium: multi-channel sound installation
Materials: custom-built speaker boxes, speakers, media player, solar panels, assorted wires, audio.
 Participating drummers: Adrian Langeveld, Barry van Zyl, Bronwen Clacherty, Caitlin  Mkhasibe, Jason Jardim, Ross Campbell, Thokozani Mhlambi, William Mosima
Recording engineer: Dave Langemann
Speaker box design and construction: Brett Netherton
Solar power sponsored by PVI Solar

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 


Untitled (with The Sound Of Its Own Making) Sample 01

The isolated vocal track of "Helter Skelter" (The Beatles, 1968) was reversed and given to the vocalist Zami Mdingi to sing as such, and broadcast from a circular, hyper-directional speaker, backlit, and visually echoing an eclipse. This is only an extract of the full installation piece.

https://theotherjameswebb.tumblr.com/post/154768868919/threnody-paris-version

Date: 2016
Dimensions: 1m diameter
Duration: 00:02:59
Medium:  4-channel sound installation
Materials: Acouspade speaker, 2 active monitors, audio
Singer: Zami Mdingi
Transcription and arrangement assistance: Cara Stacey
Recording, mixing, and mastering: Dave Langemann

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com

Threnody

Two writers were given the same private dossier of visual images and asked to respond to them with a series of associative, literary “visions” for an actor to voice. The whispered voice is broadcast from a hyper-directional speaker in a darkened cellar underneath the gallery only accessible through a trapdoor.

“She hid in the greenhouse and enveloped herself in the overgrown foliage that had taken over the room. The boy had told her not to go near the plants, but to her that only meant he would not look for her there. It was the perfect plan, she thought. She would finally beat him at hide and seek. How could she know what lived in the shadow of the immense plants and how hungry it was?” - an extract from the text, written by Louis Viljoen.

Commissioned writers: Amy Jephta, Louis Viljoen
Voice: Rebecca Makin-Taylor

This artwork was exhibited on “Xenagogue,” James Webb’s solo exhibition at the Hordaland Kunstsenter, curated by Anthea Buys, in August 2015.

Photograph by Bjørn Mortensen.

Courtesy the artist, Hordaland Kunstsenter, blank projects, and Galerie Imane Farès.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

This is my voice, but these are not my words (excerpt)

A recording of Marrakchi Abdelaziz performing the Adhan at Stockholms Moské as part of "Prayer (Stockholm)" curated by Helene Larsson Pousette for “History Unfolds” at Historiska in 2016, with research and production assistance by Susanna Zidén and IASPIS.

Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.
The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Marrakchi Abdelaziz_Stockholms Moské_Prayer (Stockholm)

James Webb, “La Syzygie,” 2016, a multi-dimensional reading of the Théâtre Graslin, commissioned by Le Voyage à Nantes. The artist invited various local specialists to visit the 18th century opera house and read the space through the lens of their own disciplines. The guests included Xavier Fouquet, an architect; Bernard Duchatelle, astrologer; Christine Gross, theatre historian, Régis Vasseur, technical director of the Théâtre Graslin; Stéphane Barbreau, psychic, and Daniel Dumoulin, psychologist. The resulting information, as well as various other cartographic, literary, and photographic research was shared with the playwright, Louis Viljoen, who was commissioned to write a script for the actors Melodie Abad and Olivier Birene, as well as Maxime Deluc, Didier Moestus, Nadegé Sanz, Marie Roux, and Jean-pierre Whitfield, to voice. The theatre is transformed into a psycho-architectural environment populated by voices, sounds, and shadows relating to the building’s past, present, and future, referencing conditions and techniques of séance, exorcism, and psychoanalysis. Audience members can sit in the auditorium and experience a phantasmagoria of events, dreams, and histories suggested by the magnificent building itself.

The artwork features operatic aria sung by Athenkosi Cornelia Hoyi and Xolane Mokoena WaNkopane, Franz Liszt’s Wilde Jag performed by Coila Enderstein, and the rehearsals of the Stellenbosch University Student Orchestra, recorded by Gerhard Roux. The principle voice recordings were engineered by Dave Langemann. Installation and technical team were Pierrot Congratel, Valentine Moreau and Benjamin Richard. French to English translations of research by Christopher Silva. English to French translations of the script by Audrey Petit-Trigg. Cape Town studio assistance by Antonia Brown. Rehearsals conducted at La Grenadine, Cape Town. Curated by David Moinard, co-curated and produced by Jenna Darde for Le Voyage à Nantes. Photograph credit: Hippolyte Dominique Berteaux’s 1881 painting on the ceiling of the auditorium of the Théâtre Graslin, Nantes, by Bernard Renoux.

Renovation (La Syzygie)

James Webb, “La Syzygie,” 2016, a multi-dimensional reading of the Théâtre Graslin, commissioned by Le Voyage à Nantes. The artist invited various local specialists to visit the 18th century opera house and read the space through the lens of their own disciplines. The guests included Xavier Fouquet, an architect; Bernard Duchatelle, astrologer; Christine Gross, theatre historian, Régis Vasseur, technical director of the Théâtre Graslin; Stéphane Barbreau, psychic, and Daniel Dumoulin, psychologist. The resulting information, as well as various other cartographic, literary, and photographic research was shared with the playwright, Louis Viljoen, who was commissioned to write a script for the actors Melodie Abad and Olivier Birene, as well as Maxime Deluc, Didier Moestus, Nadegé Sanz, Marie Roux, and Jean-pierre Whitfield, to voice. The theatre is transformed into a psycho-architectural environment populated by voices, sounds, and shadows relating to the building’s past, present, and future, referencing conditions and techniques of séance, exorcism, and psychoanalysis. Audience members can sit in the auditorium and experience a phantasmagoria of events, dreams, and histories suggested by the magnificent building itself.

The artwork features operatic aria sung by Athenkosi Cornelia Hoyi and Xolane Mokoena WaNkopane, Franz Liszt’s Wilde Jag performed by Coila Enderstein, and the rehearsals of the Stellenbosch University Student Orchestra, recorded by Gerhard Roux. The principle voice recordings were engineered by Dave Langemann. Installation and technical team were Pierrot Congratel, Valentine Moreau and Benjamin Richard. French to English translations of research by Christopher Silva. English to French translations of the script by Audrey Petit-Trigg. Cape Town studio assistance by Antonia Brown. Rehearsals conducted at La Grenadine, Cape Town. Curated by David Moinard, co-curated and produced by Jenna Darde for Le Voyage à Nantes. Photograph credit: Hippolyte Dominique Berteaux’s 1881 painting on the ceiling of the auditorium of the Théâtre Graslin, Nantes, by Bernard Renoux.

Courtesy the artist, Le Voyage à Nantes, blank projects, and Galerie Imane Farès.

A séance with Hippolyte Dominique Berteaux (La Syzygie)

A séance with Mathurin Crucy (La Syzygie)

James Webb,“L'esprit de l’escalier,” 2016, a clandestine conversation between Dominique Molknecht’s statues of Corneille and Molière, seated together flanking the staircase of the Théâtre Graslin foyer for 187-years. Script by Louis Viljoen, and featuring the whispered voices of Olivier Birene and Maxime Deluc projected onto the statues using hyper-directional, UltraSonic speakers. This artwork forms part of “La Syzygie,” a multi-dimensional reading of the Théâtre Graslin, James Webb’s commissioned project for the Nantes Opera house as part of La Voyage à Nantes, 1st July - 28 August 2016.

Courtesy the artist, Le Voyage à Nantes, blank projects, and Galerie Imane Farès.

L'esprit de l'escalier (La Syzygie)

Liszt Comes (La Syzygie)

A recording of members of the Russian Orthodox Church in Copenhagen as part of "Prayer (København)" presented at the My World Images festival in 2010, and curated by Thomas Burø, Maiken Vibe Bauer, and Tobias Kirstein.

Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers.

Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.

The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.

www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant's consent written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Russian Orthodox Church_Prayer (København)

This recording was made with the Greek Orthodox Choir that practice at the Saheti Chapel in Senderwood, and forms part of Prayer (Johannesburg) - a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. 

Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work. 

The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

http://www.theotherjameswebb.com/prayer.html

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb's written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Greek Orthodox Church choir_Prayer (Johannesburg)

A recording of members of the Eckankar, Illinois Satsang Society performing the Hu chant as part of "Prayer (Chicago)" curated by Matthew Witkowsky for The Art Institute of Chicago, with research and production assistance by Allie Beck and Brontë Mansfield.

Prayer is a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of prayer from all the religions in a specific city, broadcast simultaneously from 12 floor-based speakers. Each speaker plays a separate, looped and unsynchronised, audio track, resulting in an ever-changing sound environment. Members of the audiences may choose to step on to the carpet, where they can wander freely through the installation, thus composing their own symphony of voices from all the speakers at once. Alternatively, they may kneel down to listen to particular prayers broadcast from an individual speaker. This more intimate way of listening introduces a highly symbolic visual dimension to the work.
The project is created in situ every time, and the prayers are collected from all the different religious groups operating in the host city. These have included, but are not limited to, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, as well as new religious movements and traditional, pre-Christian faiths.

Prayer is an on-going project that has, to date, been presented in South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb and the recorded participant’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

Eckankar, Illinois Satsang Society_Prayer (Chicago)

Sultan Bahu Rehabilitation Centre_3

A recorded voice addresses questions to a silver Denarius minted in Rome in 70AD. In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses a series of questions to select objects/spaces as if they were able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, e.g. an antique Roman coin, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. The audio speaker broadcasts the series of questions addressed to the object. Time is given between each question for the object to reply, and for the audience to consider their own responses to the questions and the situation. 

The artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object would have had its own, unique set of experiences. The form of address seeks to honour the object and create a space for it to speak in its own way. The questions - and the audience’s projected answers - furthermore serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

The artwork began in 2016 and has been realised in various locations with various objects. For this edition, the artist used PayPal to purchase a two millennia old silver Denarius coin from eBay. It is plausible to think that this coin, minted in the year 70AD, would have been used for all manner of transactions; from buying bread to being used as a bribe, and being part of the empire’s taxation and usury systems. 

The questions were written specifically for this coin, translated into French by Julie Azémar, Bénédicte Delay, Boris Atrux-Tallau, and Line Ajan, and recorded bilingually by Sylvaine Strike. Recording was done by Kyle Leith and Dave Langemann. Thanks to Mia Thom for studio and production assistance; thanks to Samah Slim for installation assistance. Thanks to Lina Kinning. 

Note: The audio in this clip is an edited extract of a longer piece. The durations of "silence" between each question are longer in the installation.

Exhibited as part of “Choose The Universe,” James Webb’s second solo show at Galerie Imane Farès, 5 September - 26 October 2019.

Voice: Sylvaine Strike
Photo by Tadzio

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

A series of personal questions addressed to a Roman coin (2019_French language version

A series of personal questions addressed to a Roman coin (2019)_English version

From the album "13 sightings of the artist in the dreams of others," released in 2010 on "A tasty swarm of small signals" (Storung, str008). Each of the 13 2-minute tracks are based on descriptions of dreams featuring the artist.

The project was curated by Francisco López under the auspices of Puertas de Castilla, Murcia, and also featured the work of Lawrence English, Asmus Tietchens, Louis Dufort, Alan Courtis, Zbigniew Karkowski and Francisco López.

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com 

Tangier Plant Radio (13 sightings of the artist in the dreams of others)

A recorded voice addresses questions to 5 litres of Nigerian crude oil. In this ongoing series, the artist literally poses a series of questions to select objects as if they were able to respond. The installation takes the form of the display of the particular object, e.g. a glass cube containing Nigerian crude oil, and an audio speaker installed above where the audience would ideally be situated in relation to the object on exhibition. The audio speaker broadcasts the series of questions addressed to the object. Time is given between each question for the object to reply, and for the audience to consider their own responses to the questions and the situation.

The artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object would have had its own, unique set of experiences. The form of address seeks to honour the object and create a space for it to speak in its own way. The questions - and the audience’s projected answers - furthermore serve to reconsider and complicate the object, transforming the standard conditions of display, and opening up new interpretations and parallel histories and possibilities.

The artwork began in 2016 and has been realised in various locations with various objects. For this edition, the artist sourced Nigerian crude oil as the object of investigation. At some stage of the earth’s history this oil had many another forms and various other lives. Oil is, in many ways, the psyche of the planet. It has recently been brought to the earth’s surface for use in the world’s economy. The questions seek to expand on all these thoughts and ask the oil what it knows, how it has lived, and what it thinks of the world we are in today.

The questions were recorded by Brendon Daniels. Recording was done by Dave Langemann. Thanks to Hanien Conradie for sourcing the oil. Thanks to Aqua Concepts for the creation of the cube.

Note: The audio in this clip is an edited extract of a longer piece. The durations of "silence" between each question are longer in the installation.

Exhibited as part of “What fresh hell is this,” James Webb’s fifth solo show at blank projects, 19 March - 2 May 2020.

Voice: Brendon Daniels
Photo by Kyle Morland

All rights reserved. The copyright for this audio piece is reserved.
Any replication or use of content such as images, audio and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation:
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com

A Series Of Personal Questions Addressed To 5 Litres Of Nigerian Crude Oil

Sultan Bahu Rehabilitation Centre_1

James Webb is an artist, recognised for his site-specific interventions and installations. His practice often involves sound, found objects, and text, invoking references to literature, cinema, and the conceptualist traditions. By shifting objects, techniques, and forms beyond their original contexts and introducing them to different environments, Webb creates new spaces of tension. These spaces bind Webb’s background in religion, theatre, and advertising, offering poetic inquiries into the economies of belief and dynamics of communication in our contemporary world.

As Brandon LaBelle writes, “The works of James Webb circulate around a complex mixture of emotional and affective states; of longing and despair, of the ecstatic and of hopefulness, states of bodies and minds that move throughout his practice to raise questions of individuality and community, belonging and displacement, fragmentation and recuperation.” (Xenagogue, edited by Anthea Buys, published by the Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015.)

Webb has had solo exhibitions at, amongst others, the Art Institute of Chicago, USA (2018); SPACES, Cleveland, USA (2018); Norrtälje Konsthall, Norrtälje, Sweden (2018); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, United Kingdom (2016); Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway (2015); CentroCentro, Madrid, Spain (2013); Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (2012); and mac, Birmingham, United Kingdom (2010).

Major group exhibitions include the 13th Biennial of Dakar (2018), 4th Prospect Triennial of New Orleans (2017), Documenta 14 (2017), 13th Biennial of Sharjah (2017), 12th Bienal de la Habana (2015), 55th Biennale di Venezia (2013), 3rd Marrakech Biennale (2009), Melbourne International Arts Festival (2009), and the 8th Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (2007). Other notable group shows include  those at spaces such as Wanås Konst and Historiska, Sweden; MAXXI Roma, Italy; Darat al Funun, Jordan; Théâtre Graslin, France; and the Tate Modern, London. 

Webb’s projects have been the subject of the two monographs, “. . .” (blank projects, 2020), and “Xenagogue” (Hordaland Kunstsenter, 2015). 

Impressum: All rights reserved. The copyright for these audio pieces and artworks  are reserved. Any replication or use of the content such as images, audio, and texts is not permitted without James Webb’s written consent.

Gallery representation: 
Galerie Imane Farès, Paris www.imanefares.com 
blank projects, Cape Town www.blankprojects.com

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