Welding Draper

MA Fine Art

My recent practice explores appropriation, sampling, and prosumer culture. The starting points are the liminal spaces inherent within samples; those spaces between the origin and the destination which hold the potential to be manipulated, then repurposed.

Contemporary sound engines and filters are changing the very fabric of sound design and expression. Conventional time structures are now being replaced by the possible and with the advent of the internet previous restrictive boundaries of access, manipulation, expressiveness, and distribution have been turned on their heads.

This interest in sound and samples has developed from a lifelong interest in the Northern Soul, DJ and dance scenes,  alongside collecting rare soul vinyl records. The fascination with sound and collecting has recently directed me towards synthesized, digital sound design. Using tacit knowledge, I weave layers of images and sounds creating A/V tapestries. With snippets of spoken word interviews, collected samples from my personal music collection and sample libraries, and at times adding my own spoken poetry my outcomes construct conversations that create bridges between the past and the present in thought provoking ways. My tools are Sample, Cut, Position, Paste, Loop, Edit and Play.