“Anamnesis - an effect of reminiscence in which a past situation or atmosphere is brought back to the listener’s consciousness, provoked by a particular signal or sonic context.” (sonic experience, Augoyard)

Auto-portrait is a live sound performance which draws exclusively from my private archive in order to reflect on a life spent engaged with the production of sound. Since I was a teenager I have been devoted to listening to or making sounds; whether that be from the role of artist, filmmaker, band-member, instrument inventor. composer or improviser. Recently, I have felt the increasing need to stop producing and recording more sounds in order to concentrate on what already exists. I realise this project of “memory work” goes beyond the purely sonorous or material properties of sound. It is a reflexive project which involves re-encountering sounds from my past and the memories or thoughts associated with them.

"What is an archive if not a collection of letters to ourselves? (David Toop)

photo of Luke Fowler by Alan Dimmick (taken at Flourish Nights, 7th Dec 2003) and Moira Jeffrey (taken at the Glad Cafe, 2023)

Premiered at The Glad Cafe. Glasgow 5th October 2023