The Poetics of Space Festival, 25- 28 February - Spatial explorations into art, science, music and technology

Sonic Acts The Poetics of Space is entirely dedicated to the exploration of space in performative and audiovisual art, film, music and architecture. It examines the importance of physical space in times of far-reaching technological developments, and the physical and psychological impact of spatial designs.

The programme comprises four densely filled days and nights and will provide an extensive overview of recent works and experiments – spatial audio compositions, audiovisual installations and performances – and includes relevant historical examples and utopian ideals and dreams from the twentieth century. For further information please click on the link http://2010.sonicacts.com/

I recently worked with pupils from Newark Orchard and Grove Schools using mono, stereo and binaural recordings, using a standard dynamic microphone, in-ear microphones and hydrophones to produce three soundscapes, as part of the ‘School’s Out’ exhibition at Rufford Art Gallery.

Pupils were asked to explore the journeys they make while at school and to make a list of the sounds that they encountered along the way.  Each journey was documented through a hand drawn map, which was then followed by a group of pupils.  During the journey, pupils made notes of what they could see and hear, whilst others narrated live into the ear of Winston (the dummy head, who wore the in- ear microphones).

The group made a list of all the sounds they could hear including footsteps, squeaky gates, children in class rooms, kids playing football in the playground, planes and trains and the sound of lunch being prepared.  Some pupils wanted to include a narration into the soundscapes that explored the notion of giving an inanimate and silent object (found in and around the school) a voice.  The narration explores what the object would say to pupils- for example, the pupils felt that a lonely cold bench in the school playground would say “Do you mind?  You’ve left me out in the cold and now your sat on me!”

All of the audio recordings were then edited together to produce three different soundscapes positioned within the ‘Schools Out’ installation and played through speakers.

Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council

Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council

Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council

Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council

Schools Out Exhibition details: Running between 2 February and 14 March, ‘Schools Out’ showcases the creative ideas of young people from seven Nottinghamshire schools. Through working with artists and architects they have been able to realize a new vision for their future school.

Building Schools for the Future is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The programme will rethink, rebuild, remodel every state secondary school in England to create inspirational learning environments designed for the whole community.

This exhibition showcases the creative ideas of young people at seven Nottinghamshire schools working with artists and architects to realize a new vision for their future school.

Children’s School Journeys approx 5 mins

What did you hear at school today? approx 1.30 mins

Toilet Talk approx 1.30 mins

Only the soundscape ‘Children’s School Journey’s’ was recorded using in- ear microphones so should be listened to via stereo headphones. The other soundscapes were recorded using a variety of microphones, therefore it is not essential to use stereo headphones for playback.

Psychogeography is the study of the effects of geographical settings, consciously managed or not, acting directly on the mood and behaviour of the individual.  Psychogeography research is carried through non- scientific methods such as derive, aimless drifting through the city, trying to record the emotions given by a particular place; and mental mapping, the production of mood- based maps.

“The sudden change of ambiance in a street within the space of a few meters; the evident division of a city into zones of distinct psychic atmospheres; the path of least resistance which is automatically followed in aimless strolls (and which has no relation to the physical contour of the ground); the appealing or repelling character of certain places – all this seems to be neglected.” Guy Debord, ‘ Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography

Commuting to Nottingham from Leicester has given me the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of my surroundings, to look at my walk to work as an adventure. Navigating through the city, exploring different routes, finding short cuts, finding dead ends and occasionally getting lost. Unfortunately I wasn’t organised enough to make a record of every journey I made to work and at the time I wasn’t thinking about it as an activity that could be used to produce a piece of artwork.

During my walks to work I did recognise other commuters and residents taking their dogs out for a early morning walk, I didn’t really get to know any of them too well, nothing more than a polite hello or nod of the head. From time to time I did follow a few people for part of my walk and tried to walk in time with their footsteps. Following people made me feel safe particularly when I was walking home at the end of work with no one else around. I would watch how they manoeuvred past cyclists coming towards them, avoided puddles and bird poo on the pavement. I would walk behind, concentrating on the sound of their footsteps, their breathing, their music. When the weather turned icy, I would let other commuters lead the way so I could follow their path, concentrating on re-tracing their footsteps, hoping I wouldn’t slip on the ice.

For a while now, I have been thinking about what I will do when my job comes to comes to an end on March 31^st. For a split second I panicked and thought about re-applying for my job or securing another job to start on 1^st April. Like many practitioners, I work full time (in the creative sector) and try to squeeze my practice around work, so being made redundant was probably the perfect opportunity for me to focus on what I really want to do… I don’t have a clear idea what this is yet but I have lots of little ideas that are slowly coming together to form what I hope will be a year long research and development project.

I’ve started to think about how the change of routine and structure that my current job brings, will effect my usual working week. Im going to miss walking through the park, past the canal and over the bridge to Leicester train station. Arriving into Nottingham, looking to my right, over the bridge and seeing ‘D’ happily sat feeding the birds or taking a swig from a Fosters can. Walking quickly, almost jogging across the city, listening to a song I’ve heard over and over through my itouch, trying to beat the traffic lights, so I can make my way to the office without stopping. Racing through the Broadmarsh Centre and being hit by the smell of a horrendous burger and hot dog vendor, a man selling pots of sweetcorn and the sickly sweet smell of gigantic brightly coloured confectionary, guaranteed to make your eyes water and raise your blood sugar level to an alarming rate. I will even miss grabbing my lunch from Boots and being greeted by the lady with the red hair and cheery eyes, and talking to her about the day so far, weekend plans and that my hair has changed colour (again) for the amount of time it takes for her to put my lunch through the till.

There are many things that I will miss, but nothing can beat the feeling that I have now- a mixture of excitement for all the possibilities that will come with having time to investigate areas of my practice that I have only briefly examined so far… and the fear of not doing anything constructive with my time, the fear of having too much time and too many things to think about and being indecisive.

East Midlands trains, Leicester to Nottingham, about £140 per month

Dipping a hydrophone into Leicester Canal

What a great Christmas present!  A hydrophone!  A microphone designed to use underwater, to record and listen to underwater sounds.

Its early on New Years day, its cold and frosty and after a few tests with my mono hydrophone in the sink with the tap running, I take a walk to the canal.  Its busier than I expected, mostly couples taking a stroll together, as I gently lower the hydrophone with its 5m cable into the water (over the side of a bridge), I get a few odd stares- I think the majority thought I was fishing.  A couple walked by looking concerned and asked what I was doing.  I tell them that Im an artist listening to the underwater sounds of the canal…but in truth I didnt really hear a great deal, apart from when the microphone struck the side of the canal or was pulled out of the water and plonked back in again.

The canal is dirty with litter and full of ducks and swans, everytime I try to move my hydrophone close to them they swim away (understandably), as I trace the footsteps that I usually take along the canal on my way to work and drag the microphone along, I can hear it move through the water and occasionally bump against a lump of litter or get tangled in a tree branch.  The hydrophone is quiet weighty and falls under the waters surface when stationary, but could do with some fishing weights when pulled under water.

I plan to record under water sounds at the canal again, but this time at a different position, close to the anglers and moving narrow boats.  As part of the Riversoundscapes project (see early posts), I will take the hydrophone to Nottingham to record at different points along the River Trent.

Today I met the man that I’ve seen almost everyday (on my way to work) sitting on the same bench by the River Trent.

I had wrote about seeing him further down my blog during August- October 2009, when I was gathering recordings from the River Trent (Nottingham) and River Soar (Leicester).

It’s Christmas Eve, so feeling festive and a tad whimsical I thought it would be a good idea for me to change my usual routine of power walking my way through town and be late for work.

I had to remind myself to grab a mince pie and a cup of coffee, I’m not particularly fond of either but I thought that the man on the bench might be interested.

As usual, I made sure that my recorder and microphones were working and was all set up and ready to go…it does sometimes feel a bit sneaky recording conversations with people when they are unaware of it.

The man has a name and it begins with a ‘D’, he lives in a care home in Nottingham, but used to live and work in London and Manchester in a seal foundation factory and more interestingly as a doorman for Playboy and for a punk rock club in Manchester.  He feeds the ducks everyday, chain smokes, drinks Fosters and when it rains he sits in the crown court.  His wish (which he shared with me, without any prompting) is to plant a tree in Hyde Park or St James Park in London to leave behind some kind of legacy.

The 'gay' duck that started our conversation

Please listen to Meeting with ‘D’ using stereo headphones.  Approx 7 mins long.

Come down to The Independent Art Centre on Humberstone Gate on Saturday 12 December 9pm- 2am

Click here for further information on Stench V

PVC & Stench presents…

Stench V – A night of live electronics to rewire your mind.
A sonic line up from some of the UKs finest electronic labels:

Mrs Jynx [planet mu]
Threep [bathysphere]
Myoptik [ping-discs/pvc/centrifuge]
Roy Of The Ravers [centrifuge]
Wassim [centrifuge]
Felis [Kontakt]

Only £5 for a night of spectacular visuals, fine sonics and interactive multimedia at The Arts Organisation Leicester.
68-70 Humberstone Gate, Leicester, LE1 3PL.

www.stench.org.uk
www.thecentrifuge.co.uk
www.planet-mu.com

Another opportunity to loan a pair of headphones and MP3 player to listen to the binaural audio recording made especially for Humberstone Gate!  Sit on one of the benches opposite the Independent Art Centre and have a listen…

The Independent Art Centre (based in Leicester on Humberstone Gate) will create an opportunity for the introduction of the arts to the community with gallery spaces, a stage, cafe, studio, office and workshop spaces.  The building has recently been refurbished and is due to open Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October. The opening will coincide with Oxjam Leicester, a national music festival, with the aim to raise money and awareness for Oxfam.  As part of Oxjam Leicester, artist led forum Stench (performance, experimental music and digital art based in Leicester) will host a day of experimental and electronic music featuring Stench members at The Independent Art Centre.

I was asked to contribute to the day and have produced a site specific binaural audio recording in response to The Independent Art Centre and the surrounding environment.  The soundscape should be listened to whilst sat on one of the benches facing the Independent Art Centre through stereo headphones and is available to download.

Please listen to Humberstone Gate IAC here via stereo headphones or you can pick up a pair of headphones and mp3 player at The Independent Art Centre on Sunday 24 October 4pm- 11pm.

Panoramic view of Humberstone Gate

The Independent Art Centre

Other businesses surrounding The Independent Art centre

The final soundscape was composed using binaural audio recordings taken from a bench opposite the Independent Art Centre.  Recordings were also taken in the shops next to the Independent Art Centre, including the taxi rank and my journey to and from Humberstone Gate via bus and taxi.  The building that now hosts the IAC used to be a Walkabout club, therefore recordings from the Walkabout based on Granby Street were added in to reflect past events and previous usage of the building.  Observations of the environment, its inhabitants, passersby were noted (whilst sat on a bench opposite the IAC) and the opinions of local businesses and discussions surrounding the opening of the IAC collated, some of which were added to the final soundscape.

Recording at Walkabout bar, Granby Street, Leicester

My journey to work takes me past the canal in Leicester and the River Trent in Nottingham.  Binaural audio recordings have been taken from each river, a sample soundscape has been produced from Leicester Canal with the intention of comparing and contrasting it to a sample from the River Trent.  Binaural Media have recently announced the opportunity for 12 artists to work as part of the Nodar residency programme in Portugal to undertake a 2-week project using the Paiva River as a source for inspiration.

For more information of River Soundscapes please click on the link www.riversoundscapes.blogspot.com

Please listen to Leicester Canal (sample) via stereo headphones.  Approx 40 secs.

Looking over Trent bridge- I see him everyday on my way to work.