Monika Balu | Artist & Photographer - Auditory Communication

Auditory Communication (multiple versions) 2018-2020

The two-part instruction implies a solution for more effective human conversation when using sound to send and receive information. Due to my hearing impairment, I perceive sounds differently and often mishear words. Inspired by the ‘speech banana’ (a visual tool which describes where sounds used in everyday human speech sit on an audiogram, forming a banana-like shape) and my own hearing test results, I invite the viewer to my world of sound perception with a playful twist. In this work, I try to tackle the issue of conversation which might be unknown to people with normal hearing.

Installation view:

Don't Pass Me By exhibition at Galleri Format, Malmo, 2019

Street Gallery in Gothenburg, 2019

Lithuanian version - Garsinė Komunikacija at Kaunas Photography Gallery, 2020-2021

In these self-portraits, I imagined what it is like to be an instruction that we find in the packaging of gadgets, aircraft safety cards and IKEA assembly instructions; and what it is like to be observed this way. Portraits are multiplied and resized; They are framed within each step, and combined with a text briefing. A lot of letters disappear in the sentences based on the data from my hearing test results.

Booklet versions:

A3 Posters available upon request: