past present future   Michelle Outram Will be developing a performance and sound installation in and around a glass structure located at Speaker’s Corner at the Domain. Performances will be presented to spectators who will hear the sonic elements of the work and witness Outram’s interaction with the sound elements of the piece. The sonic environment of the work will be constructed using recordings of significant Australian political speeches given by politicians, public figures and members of the community from the 1890s (when sound recording became available) to the present. The speeches will be manipulated to create a range of sonic structures communicating both intellectual argument and emotive journey. The performance will be created for each manipulated speech, involving gesture, image and persona as well as sung and spoken text. The sonic environment carefully balances the relationship between the abstract emotive qualities of sound and the need to communicate text in a concrete and understandable fashion. The work aims to contextualise current Australian political decisions, impart knowledge and generate discussion with regards to the broader history of our land (including our indigenous history). The placing of the work at Speaker’s corner in the Domain is important on a number of levels. Speaker’s Corner is a place where individuals are free to voice their opinions. It is also a significant indigenous site – the final resting place of the Cadigal people who fought a prolonged battle over this site. It then became part of the residence of the Governor of NSW and in 1831 was opened to the public.   © Michelle Outram © Michelle Outram © Michelle Outram