Originally devised as part of a private dinner Bitter Sweet Frequencies at STO Werkstatt that drew sound, architecture and food together, The Curl Of Their Acetone Tongue is inspired by the awkward delight of overhearing a couple argue publicly in a restaurant.   A male performer was seated among the guests. At first, the actor blended seamlessly into the room, appearing to be just another industry professional. Gradually, however, the façade began to slip. The performer enters into a dialogue with a disembodied voice, their exchange becoming intimately absurd and uncomfortable.  Working with live and recorded voice, Ilona Sagar draws on the mechanics of speech, consumption and the ambiguous fleshy boundary implied in the phonology of voice and language. The piece visually and sonically unravelled the textures of language, speech and the guttural registers through which meaning, disgust and pleasure surface.

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Specially commissioned by Sto for the Look & Listen exhibition, the project emerged from a diverse collaboration between food anthropologist Rachel Karasik, sound artist Doug Haywood, curator Amy Croft, architect Tomas Klassnik, and artist Ilona Sagar.

      

Performance, text and sound piece: Ilona Sagar

 

Sound Mix: Doug Haywood

 

Speaker: Gately Freeman

Voice Over: Penelope Mcghie

 

Chorus: Annabel Green, Stephanie Merulla, Matalia Massucco, Natalie Gapern.