A Layer of Liquid Water : Pheobe Riley Law [PAST]

Sound Exhibition :

26 August 2022 Friday 5-8pm

27 & 28 August Saturday & Sunday 2:30-6:30pm

Running Time : 34 minutes. Free Entry

This is one of the four exhibitions of work and artists selected from DIVFUSE Sound Archive No. 3 – an Open Call for pieces that are based on field recordings. We are pleased that this round of the Open Call is funded by the Arts Council England and the work was jointly selected between Project DIVFUSE and sound artist and tutor Jose Macabra.


amongst the references there are ones to borders;

between the liquid & the frozen

the solid and the porous state of walls along a cattle run

and between narrative and the shape of language as a sounding object.

‘Working on this piece, during a year where plans were constantly being shifted, created pockets of time that seemed to drift between the day-to-day and a suspended sense of progression. With A layer of liquid water (2020/21) I attempt to explore the aesthetics of certain located sounds; the memories contained in recordings from trips to Oslo and through others which reference ideas of the static and the transitory (restriction and movement). I have an interest in words as sound, with their meanings more fluid, and this became an important, refreshing element of the piece. With many thanks to Jenny Berger Myhre and Line Elkjær for their readings of the texts. ‘ – Pheobe Riley Law

Pheobe Riley Law’s practice is multifaceted and she works in mediums including sound, sculpture, film, installation and performance. She seeks to re-evaluate the use and meaning of functional spaces and devices, questioning aspects of human activity through both division and borders. Law often explores the documentation and transformation of materials including recorded and live sound, text, fabric, movement, digital and analogue film and reformatted objects. Recent work includes Oh O Salinty at Humber Street Gallery, Hull Arts Research and Initiative centre,(Hull), The Hancock Museum, 36 Lime Street Gallery (Newcastle). Emerging Artist Installation at Delaval Hall (Northumberland). Residency and tour with Making tracks at Cove park (Scotland). Herd (Newcastle University) and further works at The Baltic, Hatton Gallery Newcastle, The Republic Gallery (Blythe), Spikersuppa Lydgalleri (Oslo), Funen Art Academy Odense (Denmark), LevelOne Gallery Hamburg (Germany), Paradise Air (Japan), Detroit Gallery (Stockholm), Iklectik (London), Cafe Oto (London) & the Coachhouse (Brighton) and sound / score based performances at Ftarri (Tokyo), for BBC Radio 3, Fort Process

Photo from Pheobe Riley Law