What You Don't See (Queens Teens Respond)

Freya Powell’s work delves into expansive and imaginative spaces; alternating from photography, to video, to audio she has continually captured our attention with personal experiences and memories—both of herself and others. Omniscience and Oblivion (2015) features a small room with a lone wooden bench and four speakers mounted on the walls. The forty-eight minutes and twenty-two seconds of audio bring to life anonymously submitted pairs of memories from an online form Powell had previously created— one they would like to keep forever and one they would like to let go.

As melodramatic as it may seem, as you settle in, what you hear is actually the submitted memories being read aloud by strangers. During your time sitting down in this humble room, you will notice that each memory is told one at a time, in a random order, and that each memory travels from one speaker to another. Some speakers play the audio rather low, others rather high; each episode spoken by a different voice at a different sound level make you react differently from one to the next.

Unexpectedly, you start noticing many things. One being the sense of comfort you feel, and two the humbling feeling that has developed while listening in on this archive; 'these people don’t know me, yet they trust the world with their past?' You are taken by this passionate wave of humanity and it is truly a journey you are experiencing. The strangers' voices gently going from flat to assenting and their reactions going from accepting to incredulous at what they are reading, whether it be a poem, a story, a sentence fragment, or a quote.

Some of the memories are described in such detail, it is as if you were there when that memory was being shaped—as if maybe that person the memory belongs to is recollecting with you.

Visitors to this work might be confused by the emptiness of the space; nothing to see but a bench and mounted speakers. However, relatable or not, indulging in the act of listening brings overwhelming emotions and amazement (a result of spending time with the work). This encourages you to slow down and spend time with the exhibit. How often do we get to do so nowadays? In a city where all is fast-paced and busy-busy, it is refreshing to come into a museum and be able to enjoy the work whilst enjoying yourself. Many museums are just looking at a piece of art in a crowded room—this exhibit is the complete opposite, and it can’t get any better. This exhibit is truly inspiring and insightful, and melts my heart.