Contemporary artist, ceramicist, and author
Edmund de Waal collaborated with composer and sound designer
Simon Fisher Turner to create a 2017 installation at the Schindler House in Los Angeles. Titled – one way or other –, the installation explored themes familiar to
de Waal's work, such as family history and archival vessels in domestic spaces. The two artists expanded the idea of this work into an album called
A Quiet Corner in Time, which was released by
Fisher Turner's longtime home, Mute, in 2020. The recording plays like an audio museum, filled with closely amplified sounds such as doors shutting in an empty room or shards of porcelain falling to the ground, interspersed within extended drones and periods of near silence. The sounds were collected in various locations throughout Los Angeles and Vienna, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which displays art taken from
de Waal's family by Nazis. Some recordings of ceramics were also provided by
Ryuichi Sakamoto, who explored similar themes on his magnificent 2017 release
async. At some moments, such as "The Museums with Long Halls" and "Right Side Up or Upside Down," it feels like there's a sort of ghost rhythm running through all the haunted voices, crashing objects, and eerie stillness. "The Children Will Have to Stop" features loops that resemble cycling shafts of light, punctuated by clinking and clattering sounds. "A Quiet Corner in Time" seems to feature the sound of clopping horse hooves. The best way to listen to all of this, of course, is on a huge surround sound system, so that every detail can be heard clearly and all of the sonic space can resonate. The album is a slightly surreal meditation on our daily surroundings, and how space, placement, and movement translate to audio conversations. ~ Paul Simpson