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Mosquito (Magnetic) 1997
Magnetic track and chinagraph
9.5 x 428 cm
The British Council

16mm magnetic tape is the material used to record sound when making a 16mm film. 24 of the small square sprockets that run along the bottom edge of the magnetic strip represents 24 frames of picture which is one second in time. Mosquito (Magnetic) is one of a series of 'magnetic' pieces I have made that visually transcribes a sound in terms of its length and so physically describes the passing of time. I have also made a series of bird cries, varying from the screech of a vulture which is only a few centimetres to that of an owl which is considerably longer, and another series made from sounds of the human body where likewise a kiss is shorter than a sneeze. A mosquito, with its unremitting buzz, only stops when it has finally settled on its frustrated prey, and was inspired by my journey to find Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty where, with the coming of dusk, the air was so thick with mosquitoes that the sound of them hitting the windscreen sounded like rain.