Output details

Chorus

Chorus builds on Lee’s research practices developed through his work with moving sound sources (Siren 2004, Swarm 2008, Murmur 2010) and transforms this into a thirty-minute spatial composition for monumental kinetic sound machines. The work has been designed to work outdoors in all weather conditions. Fifteen giant structures 5.5m tall have rotating arms with loudspeakers at each end. These emit specific and tuned electronic tones. The work develops the compositional and structural form of Siren (2004) through scale, location, and technology. In Chorus the composed elements are digital enabling a more developed palette of sound to be employed.

A key research question in this work has been to ask how art works engender wonder in the audience. This exploration of wonder has caused Lee to explore formal issues to do with the absence of literal meaning within the artwork and the use of scale and volume to expand the impact of the artwork on the audience.

Chorus was developed with the aid of a commission from Oxford Contemporary Music (£5000), Newbury Corn Exchange outdoor projects (£2000), and Oxford Brookes University. The work was presented in its research and development stage at Oxford Castle in 2012 with five of the prototype machines. Following investment of £49000 from The Arts Council of England and a further £5000 from the PRS for Music foundation the full scale version has been presented at Newbury Market Square, Winchester Festival, Bournemouth Arts Festival reaching, to date, an estimated audience of 15000.

The international context of the work is evidenced by the presentation of the work at Lieux Public in Marseilles in June 2013. The work continues to tour with performances scheduled for Huddersfield in December 2013.

The portfolio of documentation includes a DVD with video extracts of the work and photographic images.