Breathing Space is designed to be heard both in passing and pausing. Six zones – field, living room, bush, cloister, trees and tunnel – each with its own cast of musical and natural characters, join to create a gallery of sound.

Field

Field is a gathering place of sound featuring elements of all the zones overlaid by the voice of Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung artist Lou Bennett speaking the words of Alexis Wright and singing a Yorta Yorta response – imilang, yinya (‘here/now’ and ‘light’).

Living room

The living room is filled with the sound of vocals and plucked strings from the qanun, guzheng, theorbo and guitar that reverberate inside the space before falling away at the end of each hour.

Bush

Bush is composed of frog calls accompanied by passages of music and whip bird calls created on violin, viola and kora.

Cloister

Cloister echoes with the whispered words of Alexis Wright, singing, organ solos and the sounds of wind, gongs and percussion instruments.

Trees

Trees is characterised by the buzzing and clicking of cicadas, underpinned by drifts of a vocal solo by Sunny Kim. In summer, the cicada sounds are from field recordings. In winter, they are mimicked by percussion instruments.

Tunnel

Tunnel interweaves trumpet and harp solos by Phil Slater and Marshall McGuire; drone sounds; owl, koala and possum calls; and subterranean stirrings and rumblings.