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After Variable 4 Elizabeth Castle

Over the Channel to Jersey, and across the St Helier causeway to the ramparts of Elizabeth Castle, the recent four-day Variable 4 installation at Branchage was a true adventure. We inhabited the castle (below) for almost the duration, housed in a WWII bunker beneath a grassy verge, overlooking oceanic vistas and craggy rocks.

Though we were continually buffeted by the promontory’s unceasing winds, Variable 4 has yet to break its curse of rainlessness: four consecutively dry days made for a temperate installation. Thanks to everybody who came to visit, and to all of the team at Branchage for their endless support.

We also owe thanks to BBC Radio Jersey, who replaced their normal MW programming with a continuous 18-hour marathon transmission of Variable 4. Possibly a first to be able to tune in on medium wave to the sound of weather-driven generative music. Apologies to any local listeners who wondered where your normal programming had disappeared to…

About Variable 4

Variable 4 is an outdoor sound installation that translates live weather conditions into an ever-changing piece of music, using weather sensors and custom software to generate and recombine thousands of musical fragments. Read more about the piece...