The Listening Group

The Listening Group is Mermaid Arts Centre’s occasional sound art gathering, inviting artists working with sound to share new work, influences and discoveries with peers, sound art devotees and those keen to discover more.

Each edition invites an artist to devise a Listening List of recommended sounds and to curate a 90 minute programme of audio works, which may include examples of their own work, pieces that have shaped their practice, or work in progress. Taking place in Mermaid’s auditorium The Listening Group invites the audience to experience sound art in a relaxed, immersive environment.

Previous editions

#3 Reflectors 20 October 2024
Artist David Beattie curated this third edition of our occasional sound art gathering, inviting the audience on a guided walk to explore his 2019 work Reflectors, a permanent Public Artwork that consists of four individually engineered and cast terrazzo sculptures of varying sizes placed along the walkway beside the River Dargle in Bray.Joined by guest artist and educator Dr Sven Anderson, the pair discussed Reflectors and invited the audience to interact with the works during a slow stroll from the meeting point beside the Dargle river to Bray Harbour.At the end of the tour the audience joined the artists for an informal discussion, tea and coffee upstairs at The Harbour Bar, where topics ranged from past works and influences.

#2 Paulo Post-Future 9 June 2024
The second edition of Mermaid Arts Centre’s new sound art gathering invited artist Dennis McNulty to reflect on http://alpha60.info, a work created for the 2004 São Paulo Bienal. The event took its title from curator Valerie Connor's concept for Ireland's presentation at the Bienal that year. With guest Tom O'Dea.

#1 The Sonic as a Representation of Place 25 February 2024
Co-curated by sound artists Joseph Young and Anthony Kelly (Farpoint Recordings), the inaugural live listen event featured an exclusive sneak preview of Joseph Young’s forthcoming album ‘Sonic Hauntings in a Big House’, drawn from his recent PhD research project ‘The Ancestors’.

To learn about future events, sign up to Mermaid's mailing list here.