I found this lecture fascinating as even though it was held through zoom it felt so intimate and cozy.
She started by questioning what motivates this group to be together leading some exercises where we were told to focus on our breathing for 3 mins think about your journey to arriving here? Then what is in your bag and why and finally: Put your palms together and feel the warmth. This sensual start felt like a great introduction to Oretha’s thoughtful and tender practice and installations. She emphasised the importance of being a part of communities.
This links nicely to the theme of voice she focuses on. Explaining how she finds inspiration in black woman authored books – how they describe sound interestingly. Works where literature ricochets around the room or where voicemails are made public highlights the beauty in our voices as the unique mark we leave in the world.
Another theme I see is sound and shape particularly in her installations. What shapes sounds can make (and the other way round?); the idea of games and ritual have roots in shapes. In a performance at the cafe oto project space she described how she endeavoured to shape the sound live. This ceremonial practice evokes the quote ‘Sound is touch at a distance’. Working with spatialisation, utilizing crossfade effects, gathering sound like objects, positioning speakers as sculptures in and of itself… are all things she touched on.
A work that stood out to me was ‘Dearly beloved’ – speaker installation vibrating metal circles jingles.
She described herself as a sound artist with a sketchbook – drawing is important – thinking aloud and on paper
Breathe together and reading together
Harmony and discord – embedded into history of community spaces
To end she encouraged us to find a book in our near vicinity and randomly choose a quote to do with sound, I stumbled on something beautiful which sort of encapsulates how I felt about the lecture:
‘when I heard you cry I followed you, and saw you put down your handkerchief, screwed up, with its rage, with its hate, knotted in it. But soon that will cease. Our bodies are close now. You hear me breathe.’ Virginia Woolf, The Waves