Place, reach, orientation and nature; these are the carefully selected themes to be explored during Gap in the Air, an ambitious four-month festival of sonic art at the University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery.
Organised by Dr Martin Parker, programme director of MsC Sound Design at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), audiences will witness a collection of installations, symposia, workshops and performances in the Talbot Rice’s William Playfair-designed Georgian Gallery. Originally the University of Edinburgh’s natural history museum, this neoclassical space will act as a sounding-box for exploration and education in contemporary sonic art.
“Gap in the Air is a celebration of a relatively new field of activity and represents a different way of working for the gallery,” explains Talbot Rice assistant curator James Clegg, who is working closely with Parker on the festival. “Key works will run from a core ambisonic system [a network of speakers that creates a surround-sound experience], which doesn’t demand us to constantly rebuild the space.”
The programme also includes an open call to artists, workshops for developing new ideas, and work by students and alumni of the University. “This experimental approach is the most appropriate way to respond to something that is still emergent – still being worked out,” believes Clegg.
Place for Disinformation
For ‘place’, the first thematic of the festival running until 29 November, sonic and visual arts project Disinformation will present their sound and video installation, The Analysis of Beauty. A minutely-tuned assemblage of pure musical soundwaves, the work takes its name from artist William Hogarth’s 1753 publication, which focuses on the pleasing visual nature of snake-like ‘Serpentine’ lines. The installation reinterprets Hogarth’s thesis using sine-waves (a fundamental visual S form known in mathematics and acoustics) to present numerous immersive interpretations in the Georgian space.
“I’ve been involved in sonic art most of my life, starting off with closed-circuit feedback experiments on my dad’s cassette recorder,” explains Disinformation’s Joe Banks, who’s been working on the installation for Gap in the Air. Created in 1995, Disinformation is the first of many established experimental sound artists who will be taking part in the festival.
As an authority on historic sound art (see his 2012 book, Rorschach Audio: Art & Illusion for Sound) Banks takes his place – alongside Parker and Clegg – as guest speaker at the first symposium of the festival on Monday 17 November. ‘Place – the challenge of sound in gallery settings’ will focus on sonic art, architectural space and previous Talbot Rice Gallery exhibitions.
Other points of discussion during the symposium will be open ended, as Banks explains: “I’m keen on the idea of using installation art as a vehicle for telling stories, in other words on using installations as vehicles for tangible narrative content. So, hopefully, there’s a ‘fireside chat’ aspect to events like these… and there are some pretty good stories, but the most informative aspect is always, by definition, going to be unexpected.”
On 27 November, to round off the ‘place’ theme, renowned Swiss experimental saxophonist Michel Doneda celebrates his 60th birthday with improvisation collective Edimpro.
Endless playlist
Other highlights of the festival include, as part of the ‘reach’ theme in December, a workshop with composer and improviser Marcin Pietruszewski on SuperCollider software (an environment and programming language for real-time audio synthesis and algorithmic composition), and an endless playlist of 3D sonic art selected from international artists using the installed ambisonic sound system.
As part of the ‘orientation’ theme in January, touch here to begin will explore the potential of mobile phone technology in a gallery setting and feature work by University staff, students and graduates. In February, as part of the ‘nature’ theme, a workshop from Agostino Di Scipio will explore his pioneering work on audible ecosystems.
Although the festival will have its academic elements, it also acts as a ‘crash course’ in experimental music and sound art, as Clegg explains. “I have approached it in much the same way I think most of our audiences will; with open curiosity and a desire to learn about something new. You can’t just assess this stuff online; sonic artists are building specific sound environments in specific spaces and the Georgian Gallery will offer that kind of unique access.
“Discussions will help those wanting to get more of an overview of the field, but the key thing for those who are new to the medium will be the festival’s provision for experiencing the art in the way it was intended.”
Gap in the Air festival runs from 15 November 2014 – 15 February 2015. digital.eca.ed.ac.uk/gap-in-air
To book a ticket for ‘place – the challenge of sound’ symposium on 17 November, and for the Edimpro performance on 27 November, register with eventbrite here
