October 20, 2022






DANIELA O'FEE / SURFACING

Surfacing features a solo soundwalk performance through the campus of Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. Situated on the unceded lands of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, the university’s structural design honours Indigenous gathering practices and harmonizes with the surrounding native landscape. Re-connecting as a former music instructor and fine arts student, the artist traverses the campus topography during a deserted evening to echo the anthropause that quieted the space throughout early pandemic periods. Using deconstructed piano parts and music artifacts in unexpected interface with surfaces, the resulting resonances suggest a symbolic repatriation of these materials to their terrestrial condition. Dismantling ambulation norms, idiosyncratic interventions result in distorted rhythms, welcoming altered perspectives on listening positionality and diverse modes of navigation. Layering the local history of settler resource extraction and the mass production of colonial music objects, the hushed campus becomes a palimpsest upon which to consider how deep listening can be a mode of reconciliation.

Daniela O’Fee arrives at soundscape work after an extensive career in piano performance to re-tune her listening practice and re-assess sound as a social and ecological resource. Studies in the areas of sculpture and intermedia at Thompson Rivers University further her late-career investigation of wood bending, obsolete media, decommissioned musical instruments, field recording, extended piano techniques and graphic scores. Her work Tuning in, Tuning out for Solo Listener is included in the University’s permanent art collection. Daniela holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Victoria where she was the winner of the school’s concerto competition. She actively contributes to her local arts community in Kamloops for which she earned the BC Culture Days Ambassador prize and is currently nominated for the Mayor’s Performing Artist of the Year award. Daniela shares her work with galleries, artist run centres, music organizations and independent radio programs throughout British Columbia, Canada.

www.danielaofee.com