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In the Studio: Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Decoding sonic memories

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Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Decoding sonic memories

23/05/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Decoding sonic memories

The artist and audio investigator prepares for a live performance in New York

Artist and audio investigator Lawrence Abu Hamdan prepares for a live performance in New York.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan is an artist and forensic investigator of sound. He describes himself as a 'private ear’, listening to, with and on behalf of people affected by corporate, state and environmental crimes. Whether that’s determining the type of ammunition and location of gunfire from sound alone, drawing on earwitness testimony for evidence, or uncovering crucial information buried within noise, Lawrence unravels truths hidden from view. 

As a new exhibition of his work opens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, presenter Eliza Lomas follows as he prepares for a performance, After SFX. This piece interplays storytelling with live sound design and percussion, drawing from the artist’s investigative work to explore various aspects of sonic memory. It reveals the unexpected ways we encode events in our mind through sound, and how the role of sound effect cinema affects our own memories. We also hear from his collaborators, sound designer Adam Laschinger and percussionist Eli Keszler.

Presented and produced by Eliza Lomas
Executive producer: Stephen Hughes

(Photo: Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Credit: Myriam Boulos)

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