Aimie Harding

Drawing from an interest in science fiction, my practice centres around the creation of sculptural artefacts that exist within an alternative future world. For me, an important part of this process is exploring the unique characteristics and narrative opportunities that emerge through various material combinations- primarily ceramic and wood. Inspired by the vast imaginative worlds found in science fiction by authors such as Jeff Vandermeer and contemporary artists such as Anicka Yi, my work envisions a collection of Sound Pods. Derived from seed pods, these Sound Pods are a naturally occurring archive that absorb and retain the sounds of their environment. They imagine the possibilities that occur as the natural world absorbs our human technologies in entirely unique ways. Each sculpture emanates audio recordings pieced together from field recordings taken with contact and omni microphones to explore how their individual surfaces and forms alter sound as it passes through them.

These Sound Pods uncover the prospects of the ambiguous distinction between the ‘natural’ world and the ‘human’ world, where our technologies are no longer distinctly ours, providing new opportunities for growth outside of anthropocentrism: a signifier of a new ecosystem.