Works On Paper

Works On Paper is a sound installation that explores the acoustic behaviour of paper as both sculptural material and resonant instrument. The work developed from a period of research in which white noise was transmitted through sheets of paper of varying weights (GSM) using audio transducers, with their responses captured by microphones. These recordings were analysed with spectrograms and close listening to identify resonant frequencies. Rather than producing a fixed taxonomy of weights and tones, the process revealed paper’s instability: resonance shifted not only with GSM, but also with variables such as fibre density, fold, and environment. This open-ended investigation produced a library of sonic responses that became the compositional foundation of the work.

In its current form, Works On Paper is presented as a suspended paper sculpture activated by sound. White noise is introduced into the structure at multiple points using exciters, while contact microphones capture its vibrations and transmit them to headphones. Visitors are invited into an intimate listening encounter, where the sculpture itself becomes an instrument whose form and behaviour are constantly shaped by the flow of audio passing through it.

The installation foregrounds paper not as a silent surface but as an active collaborator. Each shift in its weight, tension, or orientation alters the texture of what is heard. The listener’s experience is one of closeness: an ordinary material is revealed as complex, unstable, and alive with sound.

By bringing together compositional research and sculptural form, Works On Paper extends beyond documentation to create a space of embodied listening. It invites audiences to attune to the subtle vibrancy of a material usually associated with silence, asking how the overlooked resonances of the everyday might be amplified into new forms of aesthetic and sensory experience.