Last week I spent a sunny afternoon in Gosport trying out
Ben Mawson’s sound experience package for Gosport, Written in Water. On the face of it, it’s a simple enough
idea. You walk round Gosport with a
small handset encased in a plastic box and mp3 style headphones, and listen to
different sounds embedded in different parts of the city, in the form of
‘circles’ which you can see on the display in your handset.
That in itself is a really pleasant and informative
experience. As you walk around, you hear
a synthesis of historic material, such as Churchill’s speeches near the DDay
embarkation point, and the sounds of a parade, enhanced by Ben’s own
atmospheric musical compositions. The
experience is enhanced by many interviews from local people, juxtaposed with the
historic material, sometimes in unexpected ways. For example the stirring military history is
aligned with a veteran of later conflicts talking about his troubles since he
left the forces.
So far so good – I walked down the High Street, along the
seafront, past the Trinity Church and back via the Sail Boating Lake. I learned a great deal about local history
and people’s visions of themselves and the town. I was also conscious that in my hour or so of
pleasure, I was also missing out on much of the material – it is such a rich
tapestry, it could support many, many listenings. Yet in writing this, I haven’t really
captured the essence of the real joy of Written in Water. From what I’ve said so far, well, really, you
could have got that far, and better, and more, from reading the
publicity….soooo……
When I was walking around, on so many occasions, sounds
around me in the present merged seamlessly with the material in the headphones
and became part of the piece. For
example, a man walking past me talking loudly into his mobile phone; a group of
sailboat enthusiasts shouting with excitement as they launched boats for
today’s race; new birdsong mixing with old.
This makes every listening, even of the same walk, or circle, a unique
experience where the listener forges new compositions from the material
provided with what is going on around them – and of course, interpreting it
differently in the light of individual experience. You really have to try this yourself to
understand the hidden depths I valued so much in my afternoon, which was unlike
any other afternoon. Gosport, and Ben,
should be proud of themselves and I look forward to his future work.
Professor Lorraine Warren
Massey University
New Zealand
L.Warren /at/ massey.ac.nz
