LOVE SONGS – THEMBI SODDELL

A composition in five movements:
1. Object (im)Permanence
2. Erasure
3. Repetition Compulsion
4. Who is to Blame?
5. Epilogue

CD + Book of concrete poetry released in 2018 by ROOM40

There’s a lot of silence on “Love Songs”. Rather than batter you with noise hammers right from the get-go, Soddell chooses very gradual fade-ins, or sudden bursts seemingly coming from nowhere… this mirrors the ways in which pressure can slowly build up in a relationship between two people, or how deeply repressed feelings can suddenly explode given the right trigger. Or perhaps these forms are intended to represent the “insidiousness” of the abuse that Soddell wishes to meditate on. Either way, the results are striking and unexpected: the silence increases the perceived aggression or pathos of the noise, while the noise attenuates the blankness of the silence, filling it with its own void.

Nathan Thomas, Fluid Radio

The full Love Songs album can be streamed on Self-Titled Mag, which includes written commentary on the concepts behind the work by Soddell.

HELD DOWN, EXPANDING – THEMBI SODDELL

A 14.2 multispeaker sound installation that suspends one audience member at a time inside a structure in pitch-black

“The idea of surfaces disappeared and I existed somewhere in a mist of vibrations. They were comforting, surrounding, my weight existed within it. Something in the back of my thoughts was changing and shifting, healing a little, being arranged into a shape that made more sense, that could be understood and integrated.”

Excerpt from Audience Journal

CARDBOARD MODEL OF EXTERNAL STRUCTURE FOR OBJECT CONSTANCY
Surface to be mirrored, reflecting black gallery walls

More information on my work can be found at my website.

A 3-minute lecture format video describing the relationship between my PhD research and my works ‘Love Songs’ and ‘Held Down, Expanding’ (headphones recommended):

Thank you for your time!