Artists unveil new works exploring the parallels between marine mammal and human senses.
On 1 September 2012, in an event aligned to the British Festival of Science, artists Stephen Hurrel and Mark Lyken will unveil new works created during their IOTA “Sublime” residencies in Cromarty. The installations in the Lighthouse and Boat Shed, currently part of a Field Station for the University of Aberdeen’s School of Biological Sciences, will be complemented by art tours and presentations by the scientists on their research which includes long term photo-identification of the local bottlenose dolphin population.
Professor Paul Thompson, Director of the Lighthouse Field Station, explained: “We are always seeking new ways to increase awareness of the marine environment and disseminate our findings. This collaboration with IOTA is an exciting opportunity for us to hear other perspectives on our work, and to explore how art might help us reach a wide audience.”
Funded by Creative Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and supported by The Highland Council, the “Sublime” residencies have been spearheaded by IOTA in partnership with the University of Aberdeen.
Deputy Leader of The Highland Council, Councillor David Alston said: “Aberdeen University has given a new lease of life to the redundant lighthouse in Cromarty through their research on sea mammals. This project offers a new way of making their research available to the wider public across the Highlands.”
Living and working alongside the scientists the artists have been investigating parallels between marine mammal and human senses, in particular how sound and light within the physical spaces we inhabit - whether it be natural or man-made - affects behaviour patterns. The artists have gained insight into the processes of the marine biologists and their current research findings, whilst also accompanying them on field trips to diverse and challenging locations.
Artist Mark Lyken comments: “I had imagined Cromarty would be a place of real quiet but what I tuned into almost immediately was the constant electric thrum from the oil rigs docked in the Cromarty Firth and the fabrication yard across the water to Nigg. It's an oddly urban acoustic environment which is in stark contrast to its coastal setting.”
Day time exhibitions: 2 - 9 September 2012, daily 12 - 8pm
Mark Lyken will present new pieces of the ground floor of The Lighthouse. ‘The Terrestrial Sea’ is a new body of work exploring how environment affects human and marine mammal behaviour, and the parallels between the urban and coastal experience. Mark has used the underwater acoustic research to construct a collection of four sound compositions ‘Dry Sea’, ‘Wetland’, ‘Sea State Three’ and ‘Scar History’. ‘Scar History’ is an installation that features cut up vocal contributions from some of the Lighthouse Field Station’s team reading Mark’s spoken word piece ‘Bright Boom’. The title ‘Scar History’ relates to dolphin identification methods currently used, where individuals are identified from the scarring, nicks and lesions on their dorsal fins. ‘Wetland’ and ‘Dry Sea’, which feature the distorted underwater sounds of Cromarty – pile driving, the ferry and marine mammals, are looped one after the other. This piece will be set within a physical installation that evokes both the space’s current role as a marine biology laboratory and its former life as a Lighthouse.
‘The Terrestrial Sea’ EP - the audio component of his installations will be released on 1 September 2012 on Gamma Proforma to coincide with the launch and will be available from iTunes priced £4.99.
Stephen Hurrel will present film and sound pieces in the Lighthouse light room, in the Boat Shed and in the grounds of the Field Station. In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course. Advances in navigational aids which give accurate information on position, in particular satellite navigation, have made simple dead reckoning by humans obsolete for most purposes. In the film piece, ‘Dead Reckoning (Boat Shed)’ Stephen Hurrel plots a visual and sound journey through a land and seascape containing monuments to industry, energy and leisure. Stephen also presents ‘Resonator’, a piece filmed within the empty light room that features sounds of the actual space resonating as the wind blows.
Evening installations: daily 9pm - 10pm
On 1 September the artists will launch their week-long exhibition and installation with a collaborative ‘remix’ projected on to Cromarty Lighthouse. The piece will include samples from both artists’ works (sound by Mark Lyken and visuals by Stephen Hurrel) together with video material that has been sourced from the Lighthouse Field Station’s researchers including samples of spectographs, time-lapse footage.
In ‘Otolith Rings’ - a work that will be viewed from the outside grass area at the front of the lighthouse - Hurrel will create a sound composition that will trigger movement of water. This will then activate projected light ripples (or rings) within the interior of the domed light room of the Lighthouse. The title references otoliths that function as balance and directional indicators in the ears of all vertebrates.
For further information visit www.invernessoldtownart.co.uk