The Invisible Agency of Sound: In Conversation with Farah Mulla

As a part of a series of conversations with artists from the recently concluded exhibition Growing Like A Tree held at the Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai, Anisha Baid spoke to Farah Mulla. Mulla’s background in geology overlaps with her art practice as she explores the perception of sound and its effects on human neurology and subjectivity. She is also a recent recipient of the FICA Emerging Artist Award which provides financial support and a platform to two selected artists for the period of a year.

“Aural Mirror," her work in the exhibition, is an interactive installation which immerses the listener in the echoes of their own sounds. As the listener enters the installation, the ambient sounds of their movement and voice are picked up by the microphones and played back into the space. These repetitions of sound are reflected as echoes until they become abstracted into a drone. The work explores the sonic possibilities of a timeless continuum, where the presence of multiple bodies, objects and atmospheric events coalesce to present a sonic “aura.” Within the context of the larger exhibition—which charts a contemporary network of image-making and primarily photographic practices—Mulla’s work accurately plays the role of a mirror—registering the presence of a viewer (or rather, listener) who responds to and “completes” the work of art. As the tone of the exhibition is self-reflective and creates annotative connections between practices, projects and institutions; the unique presence of this sound installation acts as a potent invitation to the subjective gaze of the audience by locating their presence within this context.

In this conversation, Mulla discusses “Aural Mirror” in relation to her larger practice. She also speaks about her work as a sound therapist, expanding upon the potential contained in the aural field.

^{(Featured Image: Installation view of “Aural Mirror” by Farah Mulla as part of Growing Like A Tree at Ishara Art Foundation. Photograph by Ismail Noor/Seeing Things. Dubai, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist and Ishara Art Foundation.)}

^{Interview with Anisha Baid, 19 February 2021.}

In case you missed the earlier conversations in this series, please click here and here.