6857 Days

6857 Days is a new sound installation by Whitney McVeigh marking the birth of her two children to the day they left school, aged eighteen. This piece is developed from the original work which recounted her daughter’s childhood, presented as part of the artist’s solo-exhibition Language of Memory at Summerhall Arts Centre, Edinburgh (Dec ’15- Mar ’16).

McVeigh delicately balances the personal with the collective; whispering 1-6857, and 1-6671, she offers the viewer to participate in the dedication to her children’s formative years, and more importantly creates a place of communal solace. McVeigh’s recording of domestic life, in production and nature, mirrors the repetitive nature of everyday life and the changing face of relationships. It is a haunting and moving account of time that brings the sacred to the ordinary, exploring the loss of childhood and the transformations within family life.

• https://hosb.org.uk
• http://www.whitneymcveigh.com/news/