BJ Engelbrecht

I am an artist and academic whose main creative and theoretical interest is in sound and its relationship to time and space, particularly within the complex urban environment of Johannesburg.

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Gandhi’s Ears

A shadow from the surrounding buildings cast itself over most of the square. I walked past the ticket office on my right towards the seating around the base of the statue of Gandhi. I greeted an old man sat alone. He wore a blue golf shirt and chinos and kept the rest of his belongings […]

A Day

Practice:  To be honest, nothing particularly interesting has happened yet. Perhaps an orchestra of fans – or maybe a duet. My recordings tend to be contingent on nobody interrupting their making. This is probably why I don’t have that many. I suddenly had a the thought that writing in this way will ruin my writing. […]

A Post with the Sound of its Own Making

This is such a straightforward idea, that I’m fairly sure that, other than the obvious reference, I’m not the first to think of it. Nevertheless the thought woke me up in the early hours of the morning. The end.

All of the Most Current Metaphors of Human Existence, All at Once #2

It might be better to be a mysticist than an armchair naturalist. Is there life after death? It just seems that the former is needed much more right now. Thus aliens exist. Question: What are the chances that there is life on other planets? Answer: Ten to the power of six. I prefer the armchair, would […]

Little, Exact Circles

Little, Exact Circles (2020) is part of an ongoing project that aims to present a sonic pathway into some of the sounds that characterise a particular place – in this case it is Johannesburg. It’s all kind of meditative. Whether you are listening or I am recording. In fact, I spend much of my time […]

The Record Shop

Most of my installation work, works on paper and paintings too are never really meant to be kept as precious objects. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I’m drawn to sound. Sounds come and go. Who cares? Nevertheless, I do write about my work and have long been an advocate for documenting these “experiences” […]

Sound Installations

Some years ago, I went through an intense phase of creative production where I made either sound installations or installations that always had an element of sound. I recently came across some of the writing I was doing that culminated in my masters dissertation. I can’t help but notice how revealing some of my preliminary […]

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