Ruskin tutor Anna Barham’s ZYX is a sound installation that explores mishearing as a creative process, examining how meaning emerges as language moves between people, technologies, and material environments. The work follows a woman recounting a psychedelic experience through a fragmented voice narrative and immersive soundscape, creating a sense of perceptual instability that draws the listener into the acoustic field. By comparing human hallucinations with speech-to-text errors, Barham uses machine-generated mishearings—produced through an audio filter that amplifies vocal textures such as breath, repetition, and hesitation—as material for the script. The installation presents mishearing not as a mistake but as an alternative mode of thinking and writing that resists standardisation, automation, and authority.

Until 28th June. Please visit www.mattsgallery.org/exhibitions/zyx for further information.
Accessibility info for visitors can be found here: www.mattsgallery.org/visit

ZYX is supported by The Elephant Trust, and Ruskin School of Art