I am absolutely delighted to announce that 'Contours', my piece exploring the poetic, religious and musical culture of the Viking settlers and Anglo-Saxons, is to be part of the Illuminating York Festival this year.
I have been part of the Festival twice before, collaborating with Ross Ashton on both occasions for twin-site installation 'Accendo' in 2008 and last year with 'Rose', a son et lumiere at York Minster. This year though is a entirely fresh approach from the Festival to continue to explore new interpretations of what 'illuminating York' means, and understanding that includes an expansion of ideas and perceptions of York as a place. Already famous for its Viking heritage, to be able to take in Contours as a new expression of what that heritage means is quite meaningful. As a sound creator, this development for the Festival is very exciting and I am pleased to be part of it, and supply the "early" history portion of this year's public art to juxtapose with the more modern history of "Envisions" at the Castle Museum.
In the meantime, here is a link to the Festival brochure. i plan to be onsite throughout the Festival. As usual, I like to make myself available for anyone who wants to talk about 'Contours' or anything else!
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
The Diespeker Wharf Project
This project offered the opportunity for me to do something a little more different. The initial concept was to create a narrative free soundtrack which would reflect the long history of the site. The commissioning company supplied some history research and we used that as our springboard to create our more detailed storyboard and develop the visual style it was to have along with the sound styles and genres that would integrate with it.
I worked in collaboration with The Projection Studio using the pattern of working and exchange which we have always found to work well in the past and I was given some freedom around timings which allowed for some variations in sound texture to really be effective. That said, the stereo soundtrack forms a continually shifting and changing series of beats, sounds and musical phrases which blend some of the elements of soundscaping with musical rhythms.
The most gratifying element of this for me was that it focussed on London history and as a Londoner, and still London-based, it was really satisfying to create a piece based around history that I know first hand. I've always felt very strong roots here, a love for the history and being in Islington, around the corner from where a good friend of mine was raised had a personal resonance.
The footage embedded here was actually filmed in 16:9 but for some reason is on Vimeo in 4:3. The piece was shown once live, and then once more by special request as an encore.
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I worked in collaboration with The Projection Studio using the pattern of working and exchange which we have always found to work well in the past and I was given some freedom around timings which allowed for some variations in sound texture to really be effective. That said, the stereo soundtrack forms a continually shifting and changing series of beats, sounds and musical phrases which blend some of the elements of soundscaping with musical rhythms.
The most gratifying element of this for me was that it focussed on London history and as a Londoner, and still London-based, it was really satisfying to create a piece based around history that I know first hand. I've always felt very strong roots here, a love for the history and being in Islington, around the corner from where a good friend of mine was raised had a personal resonance.
The footage embedded here was actually filmed in 16:9 but for some reason is on Vimeo in 4:3. The piece was shown once live, and then once more by special request as an encore.
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Monday, 12 September 2011
Autumn 2011 Update
It may appear that not a lot has been happening over the past few months as I haven't posted.
I find that many projects go through certain stages and at the earliest stages I prefer to focus on the work at hand rather than create posts about it.
I have been a little behind as some projects have completed in the interim so in this post I will give a brief round-up of what has been happening and speak about the individual projects in their turn.
So, here's the update:
EARLIER THIS YEAR: A son et lumiere I programmed last year has won an industry award. I programmed the historical piece for the Purana Quila in Delhi to form part of the cultural programme for the Commonwealth Games in India last year.
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo took a new step forward as the new stands allowed for better positioning of technology and new inclusion of lighting technology. Very pleasing and exciting from a projecting point of view.
THIS MONTH: The Diespeker Wharf Project son et lumiere, a private commission, went live and was hugely successful. I created the soundtrack for that work, which covered 2000 years of history of the site.
COMING SOON: I have been invited back to the Illuminating York Festival this October to re-exhibit my sound work, 'Contours'. This is very exciting for me to be part of exploring a new interpretation of York's heritage and history after 'Accendo' in 2008 and 'Rose' in 2010.
I find that many projects go through certain stages and at the earliest stages I prefer to focus on the work at hand rather than create posts about it.
I have been a little behind as some projects have completed in the interim so in this post I will give a brief round-up of what has been happening and speak about the individual projects in their turn.
So, here's the update:
EARLIER THIS YEAR: A son et lumiere I programmed last year has won an industry award. I programmed the historical piece for the Purana Quila in Delhi to form part of the cultural programme for the Commonwealth Games in India last year.
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo took a new step forward as the new stands allowed for better positioning of technology and new inclusion of lighting technology. Very pleasing and exciting from a projecting point of view.
THIS MONTH: The Diespeker Wharf Project son et lumiere, a private commission, went live and was hugely successful. I created the soundtrack for that work, which covered 2000 years of history of the site.
COMING SOON: I have been invited back to the Illuminating York Festival this October to re-exhibit my sound work, 'Contours'. This is very exciting for me to be part of exploring a new interpretation of York's heritage and history after 'Accendo' in 2008 and 'Rose' in 2010.