Sound and Matter Collide in Captivating Time Capsule Installations

Taking the art of sampling one step further, Hannah Perry’s artwork incorporates imagery from modern-day youth into complex mixed-media compositions that include sound, performance and video. Whether blasting hard-pounding techno in Hackney or meditating in an ashram in India, Perry records and samples her varied experiences to create immersive works that dwell between the physical and subconscious worlds.

She creates her sound installations in memoir style: “I try to isolate moments from experiences so they can become a memory. Reverting to these moments often becomes a reflection of your own memories and how you understand the world.” By playing the role of time capsule that samples all the things that influence her life, Perry’s work carries a rhetorical force that reflects upon society’s “modern aesthetics.” “It reflects my identity or my personal history in a sense that goes beyond demographic and dwells into a dream-like subconscious that is constantly changing.”

For her most recent project, Perry staged a live performance that incorporates video art as a part of a series commissioned by the Boiler Room and curated by Guy Gormley. Choreographed by her long-time collaborator Holly Blakey, the work titled Dearth aims to portray an oniric perspective on the interaction of today’s youth, through moments that evoke love and frustration. Perry is able to create a mesmerizing body of work that “slows down” the tempo through choreography and music to portray a surreal synergy of elements.

Apart from her performance and video works, Perry is recognized for her “Sound Spots” that incorporate floating speakers into flat surfaces such as mirrors and other materials. “I was obsessed with why we’re so drawn to music and sound," she says. "I’m interested in exploring the physicality of sound in my work.”

Finding new appliances for materials such as social-media conversations, images and sounds to create new dialogues and relations is a key point to understanding Perry’s creative discourse; her work goes from digital to analog and balances the ephemeral with the physical.

Perry’s work knows no limits when it comes to expression; fusing performance, video and sound with sculpture and graphics, she creates a unique context that acts as a reflection of modern society. Even at a relatively young age, Perry has managed to stage ambitious performances and exhibitions in world-renowned spaces such as the Serpentine Gallery, the TATE Britain and the Zabludowicz Collection.

She has several upcoming projects, such as a special project at New York’s Frieze Art Fair, a group show in Montreal’s Arsenal and a major solo exhibition at Contemporary Fine Arts in Berlin opening in November.

To learn more about the artist click here.

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