Lavit Gallery presents a site-specific installation by Robin Parmar.

“The vaults at Lavit Gallery are a historic place, intimately tied to the practice of brewing in the city. They also have a very special acoustic character. Spending time in the dark under the vaulted ceilings, I recalled past listening experiences in and around Cork. My residencies at The Guesthouse and Sirius Arts Centre had given me ample time to explore places for their acoustics and architectural properties. One night in May 2016 I stayed up late, until human activity softened. From a vantage point in Cobh I recorded the shoreline of Cork Harbour. As the waves washed onto the rocky shoreline. As the birds slept in the trees. As the fish swam silently in their cold depths. As the clouds obscured the moon. This installation consists of location recordings and pure sine waves that have been specifically tuned to the volume of air contained within these vaults. Visitors are encouraged to hear how different positions and slight movements of their own body might change their perception. This is a listening ecology, a study of where we live.”

“The installation has three distinct stages.

The first stage consists of pure tones chosen following an analysis of the architecture. These sine waves create a sonic sculpture from the air in the vault. Over a duration of approximately 15 minutes, frequencies will change in an aleatoric manner. You are encouraged to listen at different locations, in particular the small archway between the two vaults. Moving your head slightly might well alter your perception significantly. This stage of the installation explores psychoacoustics and perception itself.

There is then a one-minute pause in which you hear the background sounds of the gallery.

In the third stage you will hear a recording made in Cork and Limerick counties. The specificity of these places is transformed by their relocation. This mode of listening is distinct from the first, since our memories and tacit knowledge of the Irish landscape informs our appreciation. We listen for the source of each sound, and picture the place in our minds. This stage lasts about five minutes.

Another pause follows, before the cycle repeats, but never quite the same.”

Robin Parmar is a media artist and researcher who explores the phenomenology of place-making and our relationships with nature. His cross-disciplinary practice includes electroacoustic composition, sound and video installations, experimental film, and improvised performance. His research interests include soundscape composition, psychoacoustics, and sonic arts theory. Robin has released fourteen albums of music, the most recent being “Aletheia” (2025, Silent Records, USA). Awards include the Invisible Places residency (2017) and an Arts Council Bursary (2017). He was selected for the national showcase “Just Listening – Ireland Calling” in 2011 (curated by the National Sculpture Factory) and was an invited artist at EVA International, Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art in 2010 (curated by Elizabeth Hatz). Robin has a doctorate in Sonic Creativity from De Montfort University (Leicester, UK) and lectures in Video, Film, and Visual Communication at the University of Limerick (Ireland) where he directs the BSc. in Music, Media and Performance Technology. He is Vice-President of the Irish Science, Sound, and Technology Association (ISSTA) and reviews for the journal Organised Sound. His handbook “Listening To Places” (Void Gallery, Derry, 2022) sold out its first printing.

Image: Robin Parmar, Field recording