Join us for an in conversation discussion between artist Jen Southern and Laura Sillars, Director of Site Gallery, Sheffield. This talk will introduce Southern's new work Polyrhythmia, a participatory audio installation developed through Sound and Music’s Embedded Residency at Pervasive Media Studio.

When: Wed 25 Jan 18:00
Where: Watershed, Bristol
Reserve a free place for this event: here

Polyrhythmia is an orchestra of kinetic machines that play live rhythms of the city. Participants are invited to take a ‘Space Metronome’ on a journey and as they move, they hear the rhythm of the speed they are travelling. They slow to appreciate the calm ticking, and speed up to make the metronome race. Their speed of movement through the city becomes something to play with, hopping on and off buses or bicycles to hear the different rhythms of their journeys. As they travel, their movements are transmitted to the orchestra, to one of a set of kinetic machines that taps out their rhythm. In concert with other journeys, each walker becomes part of a polyrhythm of machines, tapping at different speeds and with different notes, a combined orchestra of movement.

Polyrhythmia is inspired by the work of French sociologist and philosopher Henri Lefebvre; and the way in which reindeer and whales use sound to communicate. It also builds on Jen’s previous collaborative mapping works Comob and Running Stitch.

Join us to experience a live demonstration of the work, learn more about the project and the challenge of using GPS to sonify movement.

Reserve a free place

This event will also be followed at 19:30 by The Beauty of Digital: New technologies, old aesthetics and where the two meet - a free event at Pervasive Media Studio, in which a panel of digital creatives share their experiences of the interplay between old and new, followed by an audience Q&A. Introduced by Chris Sharratt, Editor of Creative Times. Why not join us for both events? You can find out more and register for The Beauty of Digital: here

We look forward to seeing you there.
Best, Victoria

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Jen Southern: Jen is an artist and PhD student at the Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster University. From learning to fly a light aircraft to stitching live GPS routes her work plays with the idea of what it might mean to inhabit mobile technologies. http://www.theportable.tv/

Embedded: is a Sound and Music initiative delivered in partnership with iShed, a part of Watershed, supported by Pervasive Media Studio and funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. http://soundandmusic.org/projects/embedded

Pervasive Media Studio: Watershed’s city-centre research studio brings together artists, technologists and academics to explore the future of mobile and wireless media. http://www.pmstudio.co.uk/