“Related to God”: voice memos as a documenting obsession
Some years ago, my then very young daughter had a funny but pertinent question: was Ceaușescu’s dentist too scared of the dictator to fix his teeth? At that time I was traveling a lot around the country and, as it happens, when you travel by taxi, bus, train or even elevator, people tend to talk to you. I always had my phone ready to record, since I was ready to sacrifice sound quality for the sake of not missing the moment. I recorded for two years, between 2013 and 2015, whatever I found interesting, overbearing, fun or infuriating. Kids, taxi drivers, radios, friends, birds, toilets, they all somehow melted in a collage that had God and family as recurring themes and tells a story that is just as intrusive and fear-driven as Ceaușescu’s dentist.

Sound composition originally presented during Sâmbăta Sonoră in June 2015 at ODD, Bucharest.

Photo: Nicu Ilfoveanu, 2021

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Sillyconductor is a sound artist from Bucharest. He performs, writes music for theatre, games, or films, builds sound installations or instruments inspired by science and humour. Sometimes he entertains or educates kids with his Sgomot series of sound workshops.

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Recording, editing, and mixing by Sillyconductor.