Sounding

See also: Sounding Blog



Midsummer Place
Milton Keynes
8 September 2009 8pm

After an intensive 48 hours the piece is installed. It went well - thanks to the good cooperation with all involved, namely technicians Martin, Paul and Ray; and Sally who kept me going.

For a next time I wished to have another set of my hands and eyes assisting me. It can be difficult at times to be in two places at once, especially when you're on a scissor lift four to seven metres above ground.
Video of Sounding with the background noise of a shopping centre as soundtrack. Do they fit together?

Sounding installation

Sunday, 6 September 2009 (image by Sally)

We started installing Sunday evening as soon as Midsummer was more or less empty, except for Martin and Paul who are licensed to handle the big machine to reach the 20m high glass ceiling, Sally, Gavin and all the kids and - most important - Mrs Smith who, when I went hectic, so helpfully took charge of the sewing machine. [Many Thanks to all of you!!!!!]

Most of the work had to be done during the dark hours. During daytime I prepared bits and pieces in Midsummer's underground world - a strange but genial contrast to the world of the shopping centre above my head.

You can see more images about the installation in a separate album and in the video's below.

7 September 2009, 20:19
Unwinding third bobbin for second band.

7 September 2009, 22:00
Unwinding fourth bobbin for second band

Sounding

Sounding, commissioned by FringeMK 2009, will be installed at Midsummer place in Milton Keynes from September 2009 for two month.

This project and FringeMK 2009 are supported by Midsummer Place, Arts Council England, Arts Gateway MK, Milton Keynes Community Foundation and thecentre:mk

You can see images of work in progress and the final installation on the Sounding-blog.

Fathomer and firechecker

I always wanted to work in an 'open air studio'. Now 'health and safety' issues make it possible.
One of the best joiners in town built a wonderful device to prepare the bobbins that will be unwound in Midsummer Place: Colin's fathomer looks like a giant loom which allows to wind 18 reels simultaneously onto one rod. At the same time the ribbons are 'firechecked': metre by metre is sprayed with a flame retardant fluid, then dried and wound up; a slow process.

Sounding mock-up

A mock-up of the situation at Midsummer place on a scale 1:10 using 25mm ribbon - so in this respect not quite to scale - 4mm would have been 'correct'. Also, no skylights here. Nevertheless this exercise helps to find out about angles and proportions.

Sounding and Fathoms

'Sounding fathoms out the height of the space'. It is the human scale that interests me in this vast space (Midsummer place).
Both bands will be one Fathom wide and composed of 36 ribbons. So, each ribbon will occupy half a 'Handbreadth' or two inches.

Image: Vitruvian Man by Da Vinci (source)

A Fathom is a unit of length used to measure the depth of water or the length of a nautical rope or cable, equal to 6 ft (1.8288 m)

Verb
1. to measure the depth of; sound
2. to get to the bottom of; understand thoroughly

Etymology
ME fadme fæthm (akin to OFris fethm, OS pl. fathmōs), the two arms outstretched (to embrace, measure), akin to German faden, thread
From: www.yourdictionary.com

Sounding

Trying to mount a span of about 20 metres of 40mm and 25mm ribbon. The first attempt in the afternoon felt rather like experiments in kite flying - too windy to span and fix the bottom bit into our lawn...

But then around 9pm the air was still, so conditions were more fortunate and I was allowed to take some dusky images.

Sounding

Meanwhile I've tested a royal blue ribbon, held against the light the blue looks almost fluorescent (hard to capture with a camera).
The material weighs about 223g/m2, so, a band of 1.8m x 30m would be about 10-12kg. Added to this will be the pull needed to keep the bands straight. Made of polyester this ribbon is strong and has little elasticity. Yet when I spanned a length of six metres I found that it was quite flexible which is good. Little effort was needed to straighten it.
I made a small sample-band - not to scale - composed of 6mm ribbons. Each band is twisted by 180 degrees, as if going with the movement of the sun. So the light is caught differently - which would show better using a wider ribbon.
This trial seduced me to order a bit more Grosgrain - enough to make some bigger samples.

Fringe Festival 09 Milton Keynes

It looks like a proposed piece, Sounding, a site-specific piece for Midsummer place in Milton Keynes commissioned by FringeMK 2009, can go ahead. So, I've started looking for materials to build this installation which will be a new challenge size-wise.

Sounding

A site-specific installation commissioned by FRINGEMK 2009. Sounding will be displayed in Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes from September '09.

Midsummer-Place is a building approximately 20 m high featuring a wave form roof which spans a concourse of about 60m x 90m between the old and new part of the shopping centre. Daylight enters through five skylights of about 4m x 20m and through the two glass façades towards Midsummer Boulevard. The roof is supported by 48 crossbeams which rest on two rows of pillars, six to support the low part of the roof and six for the high part. A couple of trees and the odd bird join the congregation of shoppers among the cafes and food stores within the building.

Once inside the building it is difficult to grasp the vastness of the space. The huge volume above the retail area is filled with light and air but there is little to guide the eye. I was surprised to find that each of the 52 tiny looking glass panels which compose one single skylight must be about 1m x 1.5m. The following proposal relates to the height of Midsummer Place and to the way light illuminates it.

SOUNDING
Material: royal blue man-made string with a silky sheen
Dimensions: One or two bands, approx. 30 - 40m x 1.8m (1 fathom)

Near the west entrance one or two threaded bands will span between high points of the skylight and roof supports, similar to stretches of warp taken from a loom. The bands will twist slightly while keeping their width of one fathom from top to bottom. Sounding fathoms out the height of the space and ‘puts it into perspective’.

Sounding will be composed of man-made thread which captures and reflects the light. Depending on the onlookers position the shade, shape and transparency of the piece will change.