During a thunderstorm that never happened, 5 people meet by fireside to discuss how power structures play a part in how we interpret and hear different voices. Together they converse and examine how we listen to each other’s voices, how we experience our own voices and how we think our voices might relate to our personalities and identities. In reality, the 5 of them actually met individually with the artist in the sticky heat of Toronto’s humid summer days, surrounded by cicadas singing in the trees. Five separate conversations and four and a half hours of recordings were edited together into one conversation – because isn’t it so much nicer to imagine them all sitting around a fire together as the rain gently fades away?

Suggested further reading: Anne Carson, The Gender of Sound, in Glass, Irony and God (New York: New Directions Books, 1995).

Photo: Nicu Ilfoveanu

Ștefana Frățilă is a Romanian-born composer, multimedia artist and writer based in Toronto, Canada. Since 2012, she has been creating sound work for dance, theatre, and public gallery spaces. Ștefana has exhibited, performed and screened her work internationally, including e-flux (NY), the 2nd Kamias Triennial (Quezon City, Philippines) and Humber Galleries (Toronto). She recently completed the BRiC residency at the Banff Centre and finished her Master’s in Political Science at the University of British Columbia. Over the years, she has received critical acclaim for her artistic work by various media outlets, including: Exclaim, The FADER, Vice, and xlr8r.

Recording, editing & mixing: Ștefana Frățilă

Piece commissioned by SEMI SILENT