CHRIS WATSON ‘NO MAN’S LAND’ AUDIO INSTALLATION – A.C.C.A, BRIGHTON 31.3.18
This evening, the Brighton & Hove News were fortunate to have attended the first aural outing of ‘No Man’s Land’ at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (on the University of Sussex campus in Falmer).
The unique spatial sound installation event runs until Friday 13th April, so don’t worry there is time for you to enjoy the delights of 30 years of sound recording work by 65 year old natural history sound recordist Chris Watson.
Chris’s 40 minute epic ‘No Man’s Land’ auditorium show is a sub oceanic journey of awe inspiring proportions, whereby one becomes fully immersed within the audio installation that celebrates the sounds, rhythms and music from deep below the surface the world’s seas and oceans.
The listener undergoes a soothing nautical journey within the circular building that has specially rigged speakers all around the auditorium, hanging from the ceiling and also around us on the floor. People are invited to make themselves comfortable on chairs or bean bags or simply to wander around in near darkness whilst your auditory senses are bombarded with the sounds of the sea. My method of choice for my journey was a large relaxing bean bag for my head and the rest of my body rested on the floor.
The journey commences on Brighton seafront with the all too familiar sound of the traffic on the coast road. You then float down to Brighton beach and hear the pebbles rhythmically moving with the ebbing tides, whilst above you the seagulls call. You drift out along the pier and into the Channel, where you submerge and become aware of crackling sounds just like a stylus on a record, but there are no records here just shrimps going about their business.
Deeper and deeper into the oceans we go, under the ice where we can hear the mesmerising calls of mermaids (seals), whales and orca on our pole to pole adventure.
Visiting otherworldly places of outstanding beauty including Svalbard, the South China Sea and the Caribbean and to finally return to the West Pier and the roosting starlings.
I had felt as though I was in fact in a floatation tank and I had been engulfed or absorbed within the world’s oceans womb music. Everyone present had been on the same journey as me, but I was unaware of them, as I had shut my eyes during the whole continual performance, which incidentally is ideal for people of all ages. This had been the real thing and not the all so often dubbed tv versions.
Chris chose the start of his epic journey on Brighton beach because of the sound quality of the beach pebbles rolling along. The inspiration came from him watching the groundbreaking ecological television series by Jacques Cousteau in his younger days.
The sound of underwater had sowed the seed for Chris to experiment and thus led him into becoming a founding member of the Sheffield based experimental indie band Cabaret Voltaire, which he was a part of from 1973 to 1981. At the time I can recall buying my copies of their early ‘Nag Nag Nag’ and ‘Silent Command’ singles in Rick Blair’s Attrix Records in Sydney Street Brighton.
Tonight I was fortunate to have a discussion with Chris and he has such a calming manner about him. However, I do envy him as he has worked with all three of my idols, David Attenborough (Life Series), John Peel (Cabaret Voltaire session) and Ian Curtis (Cabaret Voltaire playing early gigs with Joy Division).
Although Chris is a much travelled individual, sometimes the very best things in nature are literally right in your back gardens. So just swing open those windows and listen to the spring bird calls. Then once you are in the right frame of mind, purchase your tickets for ‘No Man’s Land’.
Show times:
• Tuesday 27 – Thursday 29 March 7pm
• Friday 30 March – Monday 2 April 3.30pm
• Wednesday 4 – Sunday 8 April 7pm
• Monday 9 – Tuesday 10 April 1pm
• Wednesday 11 – Friday 13 April 1pm & 7pm
• £7/£5 (concessions) & £20 family ticket
• Pay What You Decide tickets are available.
• See website for details. Box office is open 10am-4pm Monday to Friday.
• https://www.attenboroughcentre.com/ / 01273 678 822
Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/attenboroughcentre/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/attenboroughctr?lang=en
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Website: https://www.attenboroughcentre.com/
Find out more about Chris Watson here: http://chriswatson.net/
