University of Lethbridge assistant art professor Annie Martin has just launched Music for Insomniacs, an audio CD project comprised of a suite of compositions based on sounds from the intimate domestic sphere that explore listening as presence.
"Sounds consciously produced by playing everyday objects and musical children's toys — the crystalline resonance of the everyday — are transformed through juxtaposition to become quasi-musical soundscapes," explains Martin. "This work will be available as an artist's multiple and will be the basis for a multi-channel audio installation.
Music for Insomniacs is the second in a series of audio CD projects by Martin. The first CD was Relaxation: Songs for City Dwellers, which mimicked relaxation music, integrating urban field recordings. It was exhibited as an installation in Aural Cultures at the Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff) in 2005 and in Found at the U of L Art Gallery in 2007.
Music for Insomniacs CDs are available from the artist, and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery.