Wet Sounds is an underwater sound art gallery - a deep listening experience
Touring swimming pools, it presents listening sessions to a floating and diving audience in the water. The participants are fully immersed in sound. Free to move weightlessly in the sound space.
“Astonishingly immediate, inescapable" / The Guardian
"like being in the womb" / Mizled Youth
"Exhibitions dont get much more successful than that.” / The Wire
~ BACKGROUND
Sound travels 4.5 times faster in water than it does in air. This cancels directionality in water as the brain does not notice the slight differences in the arrival time of the sound at the two ears. Sound is also perceived through direct vibrations of the nerve in the inner ear which gives the sensation of hearing, therefore it bypasses the outer and middle ear hearing mechanisms. Wet Sounds has had accounts of positive feedback from people hard of hearing that they can hear the sounds underwater.
Wet Sounds, created by Joel Cahen, first toured 10 cities in the UK in July 2008. Opening at in the London Fields Lido in Hackney and closing there with a performance of NURSE WITH WOUND and ANDREW LILES
Wet Sounds then continued to install at various UK festivals throughout the year. In 2009 Wet Sounds embarked on a second UK Tour, this time spanning 16 dates in 14 cities. In Aug 09, Wet Sounds embarked on the first Scandinavaian Tour participating in festivals in Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. More on the various installations and tours HERE.
~ THE SESSIONS
SOUND ART GALLERY
Each year a listening gallery is curated by Joel Cahen. The chosen work gets played in each installation.
Wet Sounds 2008: Twenty artists created work for the gallery. The theme being Water and interaction with it.
Wet Sounds 2009: Under the theme of Audio Cinema - narratives in sound, Nine artists created work for the gallery. The work aims to give a sense of narration and cinematic soundscape.
The sound art gallery is played along to
AQUADELICA
Audio collage prepared from field recordings, music, sound fx and film dialogue cut outs. It is performed by Joel Cahen live at the pool. Creating abstract sound narratives it provides segues between the contributing artists work. Aquadelica follows on from his weekly radio shows on Resonance 104.4fm London called Soundsoup.
THE HISTORY OF SOUND ART
Prepared by J Milo Taylor, this is a 60min (in two parts) retrospective of sound art covering the years from Edison's work in the the late 19th century to recent sound art work. Including samples, interviews and narratives. This session can be accompanied by a sound workshop.
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Sound artists / musicians are invited to create a live performance for Wet Sounds. Previous shows have sometimes included two soundsystems, over water and underwater, thus creating two distinct soundspaces mixed by the audience members as they move in and out of the water.
RELAXATION
A session which is offers relaxation through sound content and frequency. It is best played when installing in a hydrotherapy pool or a pool where the water is heated to over 30 degrees and special light conditions. It relates to floatation tank experiences through a similar method of comfort.
UNDER 15s
Specially designed to cater to the attention span and interest of young people under 15 years. An easy listening collage of music, sound recordings and
~ FUTURE
Wet Sounds continues to develop, engaging creative work from sound artists, performance artists, dancers, light and video work
~ SETUP
The standard setup commences 3hrs before the session is due to start. This does not interfere with the pool schedule and swimming can proceed as usual. After the session ends it takes up to 45min to remove all the equipment. Regular swimming can commence immediatly after the session ends. Setup and break down do not interfere with the pool schedule.
