Collection

These images illustrate the frequency and amplitude of two different voices saying the English word “you.” The contours map Abu Hamdan’s argument in material form, binding together notions of voice and territory.

Here the voice-prints (voice fingerprints) are realized as paintings, painted with an acoustically absorbent/ sound-deadening paint called “coat of silence.” This paint intensifies the listening experience by isolating the voices we hear. Whether accompanying the audio piece or exhibited alone, these painted voice-prints are at the same time static works of art and acoustic interventions in the space they inhabit. These paintings are the most recent articulation of Abu Hamdan’s body of work that explores the material, technological, and political qualities of sound.