Artists
United States of America
Aneikit Bonnel
Sleeping chamber
06.01.14 17.01.14
Sleeping Chamber, the project that Artist Aneikit Bonnel will develop in her residency at ´ace, creates the soundscapes and layers of the spoken word of the Bardo Thodol, an ancient funerary text, to achieve a virtual after death experience. It proposes an interpretation of the progression through the intermediate postmortem state, and, much like Gysin’s Dream Machine, invokes an intimate and hypnagogic environment whereby the subconscious is tapped and visions are initiated.
Comprised of field recordings, instrumentation, and vocals, this essentially aural work completes the atmosphere of an architectural structure made of ice and projected with colors and light. Within this domed enclave rests a series of slabs covered with fur upon which the viewer/hearer will reside for the duration of the piece.
Aneikit Bonnel is a multimedia artist. Out of college, she pursued acting in LA as her interests evolved to directing, writing, and music. She worked in the film industry for several years, then returned to Kansas to earn a Master of Arts in Film Studies. During graduate school, she discovered experimental cinema and began to experiment musically as well. Recording instrumental phrases built of layers and effects, she explored the distinction between aural and visual elements of her work.
ARTIST STATEMENT
A literal translation of the text’s title reveals the essence of this work and the reason I want to realize it: Liberation Through Hearing. I’m fascinated by death and what follows. Not to conquer, but embrace and masterfully navigate what lies beyond. By virtue of merely hearing the knowledge of this book, it suggests liberation from the physical and nonphysical planes. I’m intrigued by the possibility of creating a healing or transformative space using of sound and light, temperature and touch. The sensual environment of an audio piece is an important artistic feature, challenge, and goal.
BIO
Aneikit Bonnel
1972 | USA.
Lives and works in Brooklyn. New York, USA.
STUDIES
2003 | School of Visual Arts. New York, USA.
2001 | Master of Arts, Film Studies, University of Kansas. USA.
1990 | Bachelor of Arts, Sociology and Theatre, Washburn University. USA.
EXHIBITIONS
2013 | No Parking/Alternate Universe Ahead [Building Map Projection]. USA.
2012 | Fishbowl [Interactive Multichannel Projection Environment]; New York, USA.
2011 | Samsara [Screening Room]. New York, USA.
2010 | Samsara [Installation Triptych]. USA.
RESIDENCIES
2011 | Elkins Sound Art Residency. Nashville, USA.
2010 | ChaNorth, Pine Plains, New York, USA.