Do our memories have sound? If so, how do they sound?

 

The Echoic Memoire of the Two is a sound installation by the duo NUM, designed as an evolving composition that subtly shifts over the course of a four-month exhibition. This installation serves as a sonic memoir—or, perhaps more accurately, a sonic photo album. Just as visual memories shift over time, NUM manipulates these recordings, allowing them to transform into new sonic patterns. This reflects how our minds gradually alter memories, how we forget, and how we recall them differently over time. Each sound holds a fragment of the past, drawn exclusively from field recordings captured during NUM’s stay in the Republic of Georgia from 2016 to 2021. NUM presents a soundscape composed of an altered collection of sounds that spans everyday life, city soundscapes, folk songs, Christmas and church choirs, local ceremonies, and natural environments.

 

As mentioned, the composition itself is ongoing, continually evolving over the four-month exhibition. Just as memories are not static but shift with time, the soundscape, too, will change, with new elements being gradually introduced to alter the sonic landscape. This ever-shifting composition reflects the transient nature of memory—how it morphs and transforms yet always remains a part of us.

 

To craft this composition, NUM has employed a variety of sonic art techniques. The duo borrows elements from electroacoustic music and integrates them with cross-platform generative audio engines of their own creation. The result is a hybrid composition that emerges through a collaboration between human and machine, adding an additional layer of complexity and depth to the evolving soundscape.

 

The soundscape is divided into three distinct sections, each contributing to the composition as it unfolds through space rather than time. Unlike traditional music that evolves linearly, this sound installation develops spatially, offering a dynamic, personal engagement with the work. The two outer sections act as gateways, with gestural sounds emphasizing motion and trajectory, symbolizing the act of entering or exiting a memory. The middle section remains calm and meditative, inviting the audience to pause and reflect, providing a moment of deeper engagement with the evolving composition.
Created by NUM November 2024 - April 2025
Artwork by Shiva Babaei