Aftermath
Sophie Hayes

Sophie Hayes’ installation for a former launderette in Bristol depicted a nondescript rural fly tip in an unspecified location through two large-scale photographs – the aftermath of illegal waste disposal. Piles of discarded domestic furniture laying on the left and right-hand side of a dead-end road were split into two images. These images were accompanied by an intrusive abstract audio composition that dominated the viewer and projected a sense of mounting anxiety and trauma into the uneventful rural location in the images.

This composition was accompanied by a second soundtrack in the adjoining rear space. Two small speakers mounted on stands, which loosely suggested human figures, were positioned opposite each other. Garbled sound emanated first from one speaker then the other – a mixture of interference and distortion reminiscent of a broken conversation. Together, the seemingly disparate elements of the installation built to suggest the gaps in understanding that result from opposing viewpoints that fail to connect.

Aftermath brought together two new commissions by Sophie Hayes and Huma Mulji for the first exhibition in Foreground’s Document and Location programme, which explored the artists’ shared interest in how the representation of place can be used as a vehicle for the communication of psychological and emotional states.

Hayes and Mulji’s works were presented as two concurrent solo exhibitions in collaboration with two of Bristol’s newest artist-run venues KIT FORM and The Launderette, which are situated less than 5 minutes’ walk from each other in the city’s Stokes Croft district.

Sophie Hayes’ installation Aftermath, 2024, has been recreated as a screen-based film to share with online audiences, and this arresting new version of her work can now be viewed via the link in the right hand navigation.