Louisa Bufarde­ci
The Calls

‘The Calls’ presents a series of needle­point works, med­i­tat­ing on the vocal­i­sa­tion of ​“hey!” ema­nat­ing from those detained on Manus and Nau­ru Island. Record­ed in a vari­ety of lan­guages, includ­ing Dari, Hin­di, Far­si, Eng­lish, Sin­halese and Viet­namese, the vocal­i­sa­tions are pre­sent­ed as spec­tro­grams rep­re­sent­ing sound fre­quen­cies over time. The results are haunt­ing abstract images that hint at a human form.

Louisa Bufarde­ci has been work­ing with sound visu­al­i­sa­tion for over a decade. Com­pelled by the mute­ness of the visu­al rep­re­sen­ta­tion of sound, she has cre­at­ed works such as Starter Pis­tols, 2005- 06, Anti-War Speech­es, 2006, 13 Con­ver­sa­tions, 2006, Every sec­ond is like for­ev­er, 2007 and Yes and No, 2009.

Her metic­u­lous process embod­ies a sense of slow­ness and imbues the work with a pre­ci­sion that draws the view­er deep into the work. Adopt­ing an oppos­ing palette of both fiery and icy colours, each work rec­ol­lects the sit­u­a­tions of these cries: on the one hand of the vio­lent riots and acts of self-destruc­tion, and on the oth­er the fall into depres­sion report­ed by many peo­ple in detention.

Through her care and atten­tion, Louisa Bufarde­ci brings vibrant focus to these abstract­ed cries.