Marianna Simnett’s The Needle & The Larynx premiered on Channel 4 on Friday, as a part of their Random Acts. Following a woman, played by Marianna, who gets her voice lowered by a surgeon, this short clip was inspired by Marianna’s “terrifying urge to rework into something other,” she explains.

The four-minute and 17-second long clip is filmed as one continuous long shot in excruciating slow motion. The audience sees Marianna sitting within the surgeon’s chair as she gets injected with botox, a procedure normally reserved for men whose voices stay high after puberty. Narrated by the surgeon and Marianna, the conversations and the accompanying music, written by Marianna and Lucinda Chua, reflect the intensity of the procedure which is happening, with the music getting louder and the voices becoming increasingly distorted because the surgery goes on.

Although we hear the surgery finish, after which hear Marianna speaking concerning the procedure ‘48 hours later’, we still watch Marianna getting the surgery. The uncomfortableness of that is intentional: “I’m not desirous about making work that pleases people, or to make people feel comfortable,” Marianna says. “I believe comfort is a really dangerous thing that ought to be avoided.”

Are you able to explain The Needle & The Larynx and the means of making it?
Marianna Simnett: The Needle & The Larynx is a couple of girl (me) who gets her voice lowered by a surgeon. To make the film I underwent a procedure normally reserved for men whose voices stay high after puberty, a rare condition called puberphonia AKA mutational falsetto. You see me under the hands of a surgeon, his needle penetrating my neck as he injects a dose of Botox into my larynx, which paralyses my muscle and effectively lowers my voice. Original music was written by myself and Lucinda Chua. I wanted it to echo the woozy, hypnotic texture of the film, like a toxic substance worming into your body.

What was the inspiration behind this piece?
Marianna Simnett: A terrifying urge to rework into something other, a fascination with toxins, a want to upset thresholds and power structures. The skin protecting my larynx acts as an interface through which internal and external forces are played out.

What do beauty and identity mean to you, and the way does this relationship influence the art you make?
Marianna Simnett: Real beauty turns you inside out and overtakes your mind. Beauty doesn’t have a normal or a super, it exists outside of that. It confronts fears and toys with desires. 

The procedure that took place on this video is one which masculinises a voice, how does this comment on identity? And do you’re thinking that this comments on trans identity?
Marianna Simnett: A lady’s voice lies between 165 to 255Hz, a person’s lies between 80 to 180Hz. Before the procedure, mine measured at 194Hz. After the procedure, I used to be hoarse and weak. It was very difficult to talk, and the outcomes were removed from what I expected. The surgeon within the film is leading in voice surgery for gender reassignment. I’m melting the borders of what it means to be female. The Needle & The Larynx is a story about transgression and a celebration of overthrowing the borders of normal.

“My sense of self is in a space-time way greater than simply my person… but our bodies idiot us into pondering now we have closed borders” – Marianna Simnett

Why do you manipulate the body in your work?
Marianna Simnett: I think in the facility of transformation, and letting go of a self-important ‘I’. This implies continuously being prepared for things to vary but learning how to not get stuck with the tide. I manipulate bodies, animate internal organs, play different characters and roles. My work allows me to be whoever I would like to be.

How does this work relate to femininity and our perceptions of gender in society?
Marianna Simnett: Within the film, I’m portrayed as blonde, blue-eyed, wearing a white dress and black lashes. Girl with a capital G. It follows a practice of female stereotypes displayed on screen for erotic impact which also sustains patriarchy. There’s something horrifying about seeing a woman’s neck being probed with a needle held by a latex-covered hand.

What’s it concerning the body that fascinates you a lot?
Marianna Simnett: The body is that this huge thing now we have to hold around but never fully get used to. I believe it’s a false predicament that now we have these flesh sacks called bodies. My sense of self is in a space-time way greater than simply my person… but our bodies idiot us into pondering now we have closed borders. I’m into showing a world that’s more fluid.

”Art is an area for me to play out my horrors in an imaginary environment.” – Marianna Simnett

Putting your body through pain plays an integral a part of the work you produce, what’s the connection between the body, pain and art?
Marianna Simnett: I believe pain is inevitable if you end up attempting to access the underbelly. I make work about things I find disquieting, and pain is just sometimes a crucial a part of discovering what’s backstage. I don’t consider it as a rule. I just follow whatever is required in the moment, with a really uncompromising attitude. Art is an area for me to play out my horrors in an imaginary environment.

What were you hoping to say/achieve with this piece?
Marianna Simnett: I desired to live in a state of everlasting transition and to dis-identify with myself. And to get under people’s skin and paralyse them, just like the Botox swimming in my brain.

What are you working on next?
Marianna Simnett: I’m currently writing the script for a feature-length film, in addition to a brief film about sleep. I actually have just opened solo shows on the Latest Museum, Latest York and MMK, Frankfurt and I’m participating within the sixth Athens Biennale. Coming up, I actually have screenings in Turin, Barcelona, a solo show at Frans Hals Museum, Amsterdam, a bunch show at Sadie Coles, London and a latest Radio 3 commission. I’m buying an alto flute as I’d prefer to develop my music outside of its existence within the movies.

To observe more Random Acts click here.