Immersive sound installation 'Death Nest' by Kat Nix and Connor Estes, in which visitors sit in a willow nest and listen to comforting sounds through headphones.
Kat Nix and Connor Estes are bringing Sounds of a Life Well-Loved to The City Library Share Space (210 E 400 S) for two days, October 31 and November 1. It's a sound installation built around a "Death Nest"—a sheltered nest made from locally foraged willow branches, lined with a handmade bench by local artist Andrew Alba. Inside, you sit and listen through headphones while filtered light and local flowers hold the room in quiet. Outside, a communal notebook gathers the "last sounds" people would choose.
The soundscape itself comes from the community. Nix and Estes collected participants' most comforting and meaningful sounds and wove them into the immersive experience. The project asks how we might reclaim what a good death looks like and how engaging our final sense—hearing—reshapes the way we live, connect, and witness one another. It's a quiet, slow-motion kind of installation, the sort of thing that asks you to sit still for a while.
The two artists bring different backgrounds to the work. Kat Nix is a floral designer, artist, death companion, and medicine maker; Connor Estes is a sound artist, radio programmer, and photographer. The project was awarded a $5,000 Process Grant from the Assemblage Art Fund, administered by the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) and supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program, which has funded experimental work since 2007.
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It runs on two days with slightly different hours: October 31 from 10 AM to 6 PM, and November 1 from 11 AM to 5 PM. You'll find it at the City Library Share Space, 210 E 400 S, in Salt Lake City.
