Sound Intervention – Beginnings

This earlier aeolian experiment interacted with the soundscape of a popular walking trail on the south shore of Nova Scotia. With less external bustling noise to compete with. Like my more recent work, the source of the tones was not readily visible, hard to spot, perhaps never known. Through this piece I hoped to provoke the public to contemplate the tension in the air; an eerie anticipation, otherworldly stillness, but simultaneously in motion, active.

Down a meandering path across an open, frozen cove, through a forested area leading out to the far end of the walking loop. To the right there is a rocky shoal which extends out into the ocean, but most wouldn’t bother looking, let alone walking that way; it marks the far end of the beach. What I hope will happen next: A pause — Something otherworldly… A heightened awareness of the surrounding space; a mysterious chorus of tones; the tension between stillness and movement; the waves crashing and the trees swaying; footsteps echo on wood, crunch through snow, muffle in sand.