tribunal of the dusk

A collaborative project with artist, Eloise Hawser for the White Cube gallery’s ‘History of Nothing’ exhibition, curated by Hannah Gruy.

This was a fascinating process, delving into the reconstruction of antique electronic musical instruments and presenting them in a ‘performed installation’. For the musical performance I deconstructed Kathleen Emery’s version of the negro spiritual ’Sometimes I feel like a motherless child’ and arranged them for early electronic instruments and assembly line machinery. Emery’s voice and melodies can be heard emerging from ancient speakers in the din of odd machinery, eventually coalescing into a full-bodied performance of the song’s finale for the ‘full band’ of ondes martenot, Miller cinema organ, melotone, bread cutters and live sound design.

"Hawser borrows from the materials and processes of outmoded and sometimes forgotten technologies, as well as those from our contemporary context of screens, scanning and replication. Seeking a poetic interplay between the histories of particular sites and the skills and passion of those who have shaped them, Hawser finds emotional resonance in the architectural, mechanical and electrical infrastructure that supports our lives and bodies."
- Paul Luckraft (curator)

Visit Electrokinetica to learn more about Lucien Nunes’ work on early electronic instruments.