CROSSINGS (2023)

Iteration 1, site-specific: Generative sound design.
Iteration 2, documentation: Moving image with fixed audio.

Debut exhibition 30th June – 3rd July, 2023, at the RCA2023 Royal College of Art Graduate Show.
Exhibited at the Theatreship, London (Spring 2024).

Full duration: Indeterminate (generative); approx. 90 minutes. Videographer: Taïr Almor.

Crossings examines cultures of passage on the English Channel/La Manche. It is a site-specific work of sound design that flows beyond international borders – you listen as you cross.
Spoken word and environmental field recordings mingle fluidly, evolving in real-time according to GPS location and the movement of waves on the ocean’s surface. Crowd-sourced structured improvisations occasionally surface in the watery texture. The work aims to highlight the leakiness of public discourse around migration.

This work was my graduating piece at the Royal College of Art. Click here to read my final essay submission, outlining possible future directions for the work.

This iteration of Crossings was filmed and recorded on June 14, 2023, on the ferry between Calais and Dover. The excerpt is just a fraction of the full 90-minute duration, and fixes what would be an unruly and emergent soundscape. Wear headphones for best listening.

Melodic improvisations were provided by volunteer musicians, who responded to a short discursive prompt. Contributing instrumentalists: Olivia Bartlett, Reece Clark, Louise Devenish, Jack Jones, Lewis Mosley, Coby O’Brien, Jess Porter-Langson, Heather Roche, Thea Rossen, Jack Sirett, Brendan Talty, Sam Weller.