Created during a residency at Caravane Tighmert, Morocco
July 2016
Under the instruction of Khalid, an inhabitant of the oasis, I built a traditional clay oven with help, at various stages of construction, from local children and fellow artists. The above image shows the oven’s chimney rising up to the level of the terrace. I see this oven acting as a resonance chamber for the oasis, a place of breath and life, with the idea of enriching the view with sound.
The musical oven is located in an abandoned traditional dwelling which, I later learned, was once the childhood home of a singer.
I then created a soundtrack of the oasis in the form of improvised concerts and sound effects developed with the help of musician Mourad Belouadi: alternating natural and “human” sounds (concert background, singing, percussion) recorded during my stay. The recording is played within the oven so that sound issues from the chimney, allowing one to gaze upon the landscape while listening to the sounds resonating within the oven.