Gemma Luz Bosch
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
//Sound artist and ceramist
//February 2026 (second residency at El Boga)
For me, creating a work always begins with sound research. Inspired by the sounds and movements that are already there I create site specific installations and concerts. I invite my audience to explore the boundaries of sound perception using my own made instruments. To perceive sound, you need a source that vibrates (moves) the air and someone who can perceive those vibrations: “Sound is movement”. I want to shape that movement.
In 2019, I started a meditation with clay. Creating something small every day, smaller than my own hand, without listening to music, without answering emails, without looking at my phone. A little moment, every day, creating with my own hands. At some point I thought: “this could make sound.” And since then I have not stopped exploring the sound possibilities of clay and ceramics. Surprised by the infinite possible sound textures that this natural material can produce, I have created different sound installations and instruments.
The physical aspect of sharing my work is very important; the vibrations of the sound made by the instruments/installations enter directly into the ears of the audience. Often the performances and installations take place outside, inspired by and made at/with the specific location. The sounds we (clay, water, air, musicians, mechanisms) create aren’t the center of attention. They are an excuse to open your ears to all sounds around you, to the ongoing soundscape and to experience everything you hear as part of the communal composition. Also, sometimes the sounds function as an amplification of a movement or energy that is already there, such as: wind, gravity or moving water.
'El susurro del barro' Clay Breath
What does clay sound like? What does it tell us when it comes into contact with water? Dried clay contains air. When it comes in contact with water, the air escapes towards the surface of the water and creates different sounds: what I call 'El susurro del barro' in English ‘Clay Breath’. This project is an invitation to slow down our listening and reconnect with clay and water as fundamental elements of life. It reminds us that beneath our feet there is a living, vibrant, and fragile archive that deserves attention, care, and be heard.
In collaboration with potters, the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín, Fundación Montechico, El Boga Casa Taller, and the Ceramics Research Center MinkaLab, clays from different regions of Colombia are being collected and researched throughout 2025 and 2026. This process gives shape to the Colombian Clay Sound Library, an expanding physical and digital archive that seeks to recognize the diversity of the soil through listening. To make Clay Breath audible, Gemma is collaborating with ceramists to create tinajas, vessels, and ceramic bodies that function as acoustic resonators. These pieces emerge from exchanges with craftswomen who carry knowledge passed from generation to generation. In their hands, clay transforms, preserving an ancestral memory, deeply connected to the environment and to cultural practices.
From March 26, this project will be shared at the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín.
Contact:
@gemmaluzbosch
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