Friday 11 January 2008

Hope Street Project

Liverpool is European Capital of Culture 2008.

The Hope Street Project is an innovative art installation, which will link the Liverpool Cathedral and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral during October and November of the Capital of Culture year.

The art installation will be a laser linking the towers of the two Cathedrals. The laser beams will also be conduits for voices passing between the two buildings, using phrases drawn directly from the people of Liverpool. The voices will pass through voice sound instruments installed in each cathedral, which abstract the words into string vibrations. This will create a chordal and harmonic backdrop to the delicate tapestry of voices. The piece will be sensitive to the harmonic architecture of each space but also mixes these spaces into an overlapping sound-scape. This will offer a gentle and discreet ambience for reflection and contemplation.

The installation will also be marked by a concert event to be performed in November 2008. The concert will be performed using a score composed in response to the installation.

The Hope Street Project represents the third phase of a series of collaborative installations between artist and musician Peter Appleton and composer Simon Thorne. The project is supported by a project manager Colin Dilnot; laser engineers Ken Owen and Keith Snook; software developer Ben Mitchell; project engineer Wayne Stevens and web designer Maya Ziglio. Stelios Giannoulakis, an electro-acoustic composer based in Athens, created the original digital system that drives the installation. This digital system has been developed further by Ben Mitchell.

The project is funded by the Arts Council England North West, the Performing Rights Society and Liverpool John Moores University. The Automatic, a research group and I-Lab facility in collaboration support the project with the International Centre for Digital Content, Liverpool John Moores University.

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