Reflected Absence (with film by Merrie Snell)

"Reflected Absence" was made, in collaboration with Merrie Snell, to record the absence of two large stainless-steel sculptures by the Chinese artist Qi Jafeng, which had been on display for the 2018 season at Cheeseburn Grange Sculpture Gardens, near to Newcastle in the North-East of England.

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The landscape was reflected in the polished surfaces of the sculptures, but they also sonically resonated the soundscape and the weather, and so raw materials for the electroacoustic soundtrack were taken from recordings made from inside the sculptures, augmented by some electroacoustic signal processing. One of the sculptures, in particular, generated powerful low-frequency drones, which have been used extensively in the final piece. The film was premiered at Cheeseburn Grange in the 2019 season, and has since been shown at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, NoiseFloor at Staffordshire University, and is programmed for the Pitea Biennial Festival in Sweden for 2021.

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The soundtrack features fragments of the Northumbrian folksong, "Bonny at Morn".