Posts Tagged ‘Photography’

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…

Variable 4 Snape Maltings timelapse photos

Selected photos from our 24 hours of Variable 4 Snape Maltings photographs, courtesy of Louis Mustill.

Variable 4 Aldeburgh, Days 1+2

Here in Aldeburgh, the first couple of days of setup have been arduous but fun. Thanks to herculean efforts, we’ve now got speaker trenches dug, circuitous cable runs laid, an operational weather station, an ad hoc surround-sound mixing room with iOS remote controls, a networked outhouse via festooned CAT-5, some lightboxed signage and — imminently — a beautifully-printed artists book to mark and document the installation.

Field test, 21 May 2011

Much of the development of Variable 4 has taken place at Goldsmiths, University of London, split between the multiple studios of the EMS (former home to Daphne Oram and much pioneering electronic synthesis) and the GDS (new home to a cutting-edge motion capture setup with 3D audio and projections). We’ve also received logistical funding from the Goldsmiths Annual Fund, an excellent endeavour to support a diverse range of projects through alumnal donations.

We thus thought it apt to select Goldsmiths as the site of a showcase and public testbed for the installation, over the course of 6 hours yesterday. This turned out to be an invaluable dry run for the newly-enlarged score and algorithmic setup, and attracted a number of inquisitive visitors.

Images of Dungeness : Installation Landscapes

A selection of our favourite landscape photographs taken during the Dungeness installation.

havva_basto-6

Photo : Havva Basto

Dungeness Shore - Andreas Tovan

Photo : Andreas Tovan

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Photo : Louis Mustill

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Photo : Andreas Tovan

Thank you

Well, Variable 4 is over. With a neverending stream of tasks to attend to over the weekend, we sadly didn’t find the time to broadcast any live updates, but will be catching up with a series of wrapup blog posts.

After so many months of work, it was truly wonderful to finally be able to watch the piece in action as envisaged. The weather was beautiful — if consistent! — and it was great to have the opportunity to chat about the work with our varied stream of visitors. Thanks to all those who came down, and especially to the countless people who provided the project with their time and support.

An excellent last-minute addition was an unexpected visit from ITV Meridian’s weather team, who came down to Variable 4 to broadcast an on-site weather report on Friday night. You can see the excerpt on our Vimeo profile.

We’ve also been working with a very talented radio producer to create a short documentary feature, forthcoming on Resonance FM. Watch this space for details — plus several backlogged blog posts that we’ve not found the time to yet publish.

Development trip, 7 May 2010

Images of Dungeness: Fishing and flotsam

Development trip, 11 April 2010

A constructive Sunday on the coast, meeting the team from RNLI Dungeness – who are supporting Variable 4 with infrastructure and local know-how – and making some speculative field recordings.

Postcards from Dungeness

Two postcards found in Dungeness. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway is one of the world’s smallest, with 15″-gauge tracks and several steam locomotives. It operates public routes for schools and locals, with some freight and postal services, and carries over 100,000 passengers each year.

Diesel no. 12

Diesel no. 12

Ballast train crossing the marsh.

Ballast train crossing the marsh.