Tears for Lost Frequencies is a performative installation that explores our complex relationship with plastic. Our intention is to highlight plastic as a matter that cannot be separated from the “natural”: a material that once was invented, and is now a human artifact. Microplastics are everywhere and becoming our “nature”, our “uninvited” collaborator, and our material witnesses.
In this work, we look deeper into our bodily connection, to see if we carry microplastics in our most intimate moments of relating to the world. In Tears for Lost Frequencies, microplastics found in tears of grief become companions to the experience of one’s hearing loss and a speculative space for plastic healing and sensory expansion.
Recent studies on microplastics suggest that microplastics that are found on ocular surfaces/eyes might cause a reduction of tear production over time. In other words, we might produce fewer tears due to microplastics in our systems.
Microplastics have an affect on how we grieve. They are becoming the highlight of our news and our shared futures.
- Concept, Video, Sound, Performance: Monica Duncan and Senem Pirler
- Speaker Design: Monica Duncan, Senem Pirler, and Paul Geluso
- Immersive Mix Engineering: Paul Geluso and Senem Pirler
- Speaker Fabrication: Vera Cut
- Sampled Tears: KS Brewer, Kristin Lucas and Anonymous participants
