Sound and the city ... visitors navigate Christina Kubisch's maze of wires. Photograph: Johnny Green/PA
According to the programme, Her Noise is a series of installations and performances by a range of women artists who use sound to "investigate social relations, inspire action or uncover hidden soundscapes", writes Maxie Szalwinska. All of the pieces require participation. In Reverse Karaoke, visitors are invited to record their own track. Sonic Bed Laboratory is a composition that uses "the architectural map of the human body and frequencies it is tuned to as its score". Electrical Walks makes the electromagnetic signals that surround us audible. The exhibition is on at the South London Gallery until December 18. Here's what visitors thought.
John Goodyear, 58, Shepherd's Bush: I'm a scientist and I particularly liked Kubisch's maze of wires. I found they made me think about the cosmos, and the flow of electricity and energy through the world. The Sonic Bed is a physical experience, like having a bath or running downhill.
William, 38, Peckham: The most thought-provoking bit was the piece with the hanging wires. It's about the undetectable and things happening around you that you don't know about. We tune out in cities, but Kubisch makes you listen. I found the idea of mapping a place through sound very interesting. It made me think about the music of cities and how an A-Z of London might sound.
Kathy, 32, Brixton: I was expecting something very conceptual, but the exhibition was accessible. I liked the DIY aspect to it. It made me reflect on the difference between listening to music alone and with other people. Lying on the Sonic Bed I was thinking about my body, breathing, stethoscopes, and the blood rushing through my veins. I suppose it's about how music affects you physically, how it can be disturbing or deeply comforting, and how it can take you out of yourself.
Emma, London: The Kubisch thing reminded me of the impossibility of solitude and silence: we're never really alone in cities. The sounds coming from the wires made the streets seem crowded and claustrophobic, not like the open spaces you think you're in.
Zoe Forster, 27, Kent: I think that a lot of people will come because it's about experimental music rather than because it's an art exhibition. I'm a big Sonic Youth fan, and the tent for making your own music was interesting. It lets people have a go if they want to. Anything can be music.
Andy, 40, London: The documentary films require a certain mode of attention and I thought that staging a huge sound-making machine in the middle of the gallery distracted from everything else. The wires were interesting. I found myself trying to make a composition.
Judy Price, 38, London: I think a lot of this exhibition is just about sitting and hearing. This work is going against melodic sound. It's about a space of thought and creating abstract possibilities. I thought the archive stuff was fascinating. It was about the relationship between the individual and the collective. And there was a subtlety of approach to the piece with the wires. I think that the curatorial aspect of this show was problematic, and when you're dealing with sound it's absolutely fundamental that you get that right. The interactive element can be destructive to some of the more nuanced work. It creates another set of conflicts.
Grit Hartung, Germany, 28: I like the workshop character of the exhibition. What is happening within the space changes depending on whether it's crowded or empty, and I think this is part of the idea. The different devices are thought-provoking. It's making people more aware of the soundscape we move through.
Zoe Palmer, East Dulwich: I don't think I've ever been to an art exhibition that purely focuses on sound. I was intrigued to read about the Electrical Walks where you can borrow headphones and follow a trail that lets you to listen to sounds around London. I liked the vibrating bed. I did feel a bit self-conscious. Lying in a bed in a gallery isn't something one normally does.
