2021
Sound installation, 4x handmade dry felted rugs, multi-channel audio
Voiced by: Raluca Croitoru, Pilar Mata Dupont, Tracy Hanna
Sound composed by: Janne Piksen
A Year Without A Summer explores themes of waiting and uncertainty through a sound installation combined with handmade felted rugs. The project is inspired by the year 1816, known as “The Year Without a Summer,” when the eruption of Mount Tambora caused global climatic disruption. Confronted with disruption, A Year Without A Summer reflects on the social and emotional impacts of waiting under conditions of unpredictability.
The installation features four confessions voiced by different characters, each navigating states of powerlessness and anticipation. These narratives are inspired by a range of texts, articles, personal experiences, fables, and conversations with art and cultural workers about the act of waiting. Together, they examine how waiting shapes lived experience and relationships.
The four handmade felted rugs are inviting visitors to read the embedded texts before sitting down to listen to the spoken confessions via headphones, while a broader ambient soundscape fills the larger exhibition space through speakers.
Documentation by Marta Hryniuk and Sophie Bates
Special thanks to Marta Hryniuk, Sophie Bates and WET
A Year Without A Summer is the second episode of the project What Happens If We Wait Together? (2020-2023)
Made possible by a financial contribution from CBK Rotterdam and Droom en Daad