Nearly

Eight speakers hang at head height in a dark room. Each plays recordings of people beginning a sentence and stopping: a breath, a few words, then nothing. The voices were collected from friends, strangers and old answering machines, and none of them ever finishes.

As visitors walk between the speakers, the fragments overlap, so that one person's “I wanted to tell you” seems to be answered by another's “No, wait”. Stand in the centre of the room and the half-sentences almost become a conversation. Step to one side and they fall apart again.

The work runs as a twenty-five minute loop. Most people stay longer.

— Rita Sales, curator, Room 9, from the exhibition text