Emergence is an audio investigative piece exploring the way we transfer our energy through sound and the ways our energy gets ‘stuck’ when we stifle expressions of pain, shame, anger or protest in the interest of being nice, palatable and digestible. Culturally we are conditioned to avoid pain and discomfort all together and have become experts of numbing. We have become so uncomfortable with the idea of suffering we often fall into the habit of silencing the experiences of others that may remind us of our own vulnerability to pain, to loss, to suffering and the inevitability of our mortality. Women are particularly conditioned to be “quiet”, to encompass femininity successfully we should prioritize the comfort of others, we should seek to be polite, to take up as little space as possible and to control our energy in a way that does not disrupt others. 

Childbirth is a vivid example of these tenants at play. For this project I listened to the sounds of the birth of my youngest son. I remember feeling like the noise was helping to move the baby down, it allowed me to release the pain I was experiencing and the fear. In return the sounds of love coming from those around me wrapped me in comfort and I remember calling out to each support person there just so they would say “I’m here” and how those words calmed me. I remember my own humming lulling me into stillness between contractions and the sounds of the hospital becoming something I could anchor my mind to. I created visual work in response to these sounds.

To experience, push play and view the slideshow concurrently.