M HKA Ensembles

Installation, 152.4 x 457.2 x 61 cm, audio: 00:09:30.

Collection: Courtesy Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark. Acquired with funding from The Augustinus Foundation.

Singing Cloud is an installation that takes the form of a large amorphous shape constructed using 4000 microphones. The work considers the psychological impact of today’s highly mediated information landscape, where fear and suspicion are cultivated. Developed through a collaboration with Mahzarin Banaji, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, the work considers the power of media images as expressed by the behaviour of individuals. In particular, Banaji’s research considers the multi-layered alterations that take place in human perception following exposure to images when there is a drop in consciousness of one’s self, down to the level of our collective conscience. Gupta has subsequently interpreted and extended this research into a soundtrack made from hypnotic fragments of speech. The microphones have had their function reversed, so rather than being used to record sound, they emit this soundtrack, designed to ‘sing’ and ripple over its surface. (NH)

With the kind support of: Le Laboratoire, Paris and The Cloud Foundation
Sound Engineer: Thierry Coduys, enterprise HUB
Sound Design: Shilpa Gupta with Sreejeesh Nair at Fireflys Sound Studio
Technical Team: Rémy Spengler, Sebastien Lamouret