SURROUNDINGS_UPDATE
June 2009
Surroundings is an audio-active project facilitated by Slavek Kwi, supported
and funded by The
National Concert Hall and St.
Declan's School, that aims to awaken the child's artistic
sensibilities, with a specific focus on S
O U N D.
June:
At the end of June a limited edition double-CD will be released (60 pieces;
48 CDs are for children, 2 CDs for St. Declan's Schools and The National
Concert Hall and the rest for interested teachers). The CDs contains individual
recordings, mainly instrumental pieces played by the children and a sound-collage
of words based on answers to the question "what is music?".
The artwork for the CD is a collage of images of ears, photographed with
all children. Please see included image.
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July:
During summer-camps more sound-material will be recorded with the children,
exploring the school itself and outing situations from the perspective
of sound-environment. An additional 4 recording devices H2 Zoom (including
1 from school there will be 5!) with 8 pairs of headphones have been kindly
supplied by The Arts Office of Meath County Council and will be available
for children and teachers.
August - September:
Slavek will compose the final piece for 5.1 Dolby surround system using
all gathered sound-material. The piece will be constructed from a number
of shorter pieces, as mosaic of perceptions. Shorter pieces are also easier
for listening regarding various attention spans of children and can be
listened to separated units as well as one long piece. The composition
will contain not only recordings with children, but also another recordings
from diverse natural and/or urban environments collected by Slavek Kwi
to allow the children to engage with various aural-situations (=education
etc.) The final composition aims not only to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of St. Declan's School and document the creative process with the children,
but also aims to demonstrate the artistic, aesthetical, experiential and
educative possibilities of this installation as a resource for continuous
development.
October:
The final presentation will be celebrated in The National Concert Hall
October 16th and 17th. At this moment Slavek Kwi and the NCH are in a
creative dialogue, discussing how this public presentation will practically
happen. The idea is to install 5.1 surround system in The Kevin Barry
Room and run the sound-composition non-stop for 2 days; Friday 16th (with
the possibility of schools attending) and Saturday 17th (with the possibility
of parents attending with children and any other interested parties).
How to access and experience the installation will be explained in the
printed "manual" distributed at the NCH; this "manual"
will include a simple explanation and will be designed to be inclusive
for everybody. Example: 1. blindfolds will be provided and visitors can
seat themselves comfortably in the middle of room and listen as long they
wish. 2. papers and pencils will be provided and visitors can listen and
draw on paper everything they hear. The pictures can then be displayed
in the room etc.
One of these 2 days will probably include a ceremonial opening with a small concert (either musicians from NCH or/and children too) and an official launch of the CD-release (stereo-mix of final sound-composition).
After project:
Surroundings aims to establish a resource for further exploration; Slavek
will continue to develop this idea as far it is possible as part of his
usual sound-workshops involving everybody interested.