Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Brighton
1908: Body and Soul
Bringing together old and new media, fact, and fiction, ‘1908: Body and Soul’ utilises digital sonification to create an immersive engagement with the 1908 Olympics. Reimagining stories and characters from the Edwardian sports and entertainment spectacle in a theatrical, staged show inspired by circus acts and techniques, and underpinned by Atkinson’s research, this output engages with notions of audience expectation, perception and interaction through a specially designed surround sound and hypersonic soundscape.
Working with the earliest generations of analogue sound recording equipment (such as carbon granular microphones) and the very latest technological developments (contact microphones, surround sound and hypersonic audio), this practice-based study of multi-channel sonification and spatialisation explores the theatrical nature of sound and audio authenticity. Based on research undertaken at the Olympic Archives, Atkinson brings printed documentary material to life by sonically translating the descriptions of the event into crowd sounds.
Since no recordings of the event exist, this performance blurs fact with fiction through an investigation into the nature and types of sounds that may have been heard at this time with an exploration of how techniques from computer game audio and cinematic films (from Foley artistry to craft sound effects) can be used and combined to challenge notions of authenticity, providing an additional narrative layer or drama and excitement to both the performance and the exhibition.
Featured alongside the work of project mentors Dennis Baxter (Sound Designer for the Olympics) and Bill Whiston (Sound Designer for Wimbledon), ‘1908: Body and Soul’ rethinks and re-imagines commercial broadcasting. One of four flagship projects commissioned by the Creative Campus Initiative and forming part of the Cultural Olympiad, this performance was awarded an ‘Inspire Mark’ and endorsed by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. SEE DIGITAL OUTPUT.
