Sadism is the essential social drive

“Music’s order simulates the social order,
and its dissonances express marginalities.” – Jacques Attali

This micro-cassette captures the moment in which a victim of abuse listens to a selection of raw recordings she had made during the worst moments of her relationship with her abuser. She chose the most painful ones, recorded while he was subjecting her to psychological and physical violence. In them, the abuser can be heard acknowledging his abuse and mistreatment and then trying to justify it by blaming her. She did this listening exercise alone at home, with the micro-cassette recorder and her own sound equipment to play back the selected recordings. The exercise was her own proposal. It was released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women as a tribute, through an act of listening, to those who raise their voices against violence.

“Let whoever is violent, and not rebellious, take a hard look at themselves.” – Ramón Andrés

Notes

This video is only an excerpt. Its audio has been altered to keep the people involved anonymous.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to her for this listening exercise, which shows her strength and courage, and how deaf today’s social system is to victims of violence.