Constructing a river
Matilde Meireles
— 20 minutes of sound
Chrysoula Drakaki
— 15 + 15 photographs
Belfast, 2018
Constructing a river
MATILDE MEIRELES
— 20 MINUTES OF SOUND
CHRYSOULA DRAKAKI
— PHOTOGRAPH
BELFAST, 2018
A binaural recording of a multichannel sound composition by Matilde Meireles. this sonic environment was based on The field recordings collected throughout the project both above and below the river. For a richer spatial experience, please listen with headphones.
Constructing a River - with Paul Stapleton
PAUL STAPLETON
— 20 MINUTES IMPROVISATION
CHRYSOULA DRAKAKI
— PHOTOGRAPH
BELFAST, 2018
A sound recording of Paul Stapleton improvising with a custom-made metallic tromba marina while listening to Matilde Meireles’ Constructing a River on headphones. The improvisation was recorded in the highly resonant Lagan Weir, underneath the River Lagan in Belfast.
About
Belfast is named after the Irish Béal Feirste, the sandy ford at the river mouth. Water has shaped the city’s industrial development and heritage since its inception as a city in the 1800’s, making the River Lagan an integral part of Belfast’s history, culture and economy.
The Lagan Weir was constructed in the 1990’s to control water levels, and provide the city with recreational water sports and outdoor activities.
Constructing a River was developed in collaboraton. We used photography and field recording to capture details of how the space along the River Lagan has been shaped with different purposes in mind. Constructing a River frames the area between Weir 2 and the mouth of the river. At the centre of this search is the Lagan Weir.
The field recordings and photographs are designed to be experienced together through the book, the postcards, and their digital extension.
Matilde and Chrysoula
Credits
- Concept — Matilde Meireles and Chrysoula Drakaki
- Photographs — Chrysoula Drakaki
- Sound — Matilde Meireles
- Tromba marina improvisation — Paul Stapleton
- Mixing and mastering — Craig Jackson
- Design — Matilde Meireles
- Software development — Attila Vágó
- Curator — Gascia Ouzounian
Released by Optophono.com 2018
This project was made possible through the kind support of Recomposing the City, AHRC (the ‘Hearing Trouble’ project), Queen’s University Belfast AEL Research fund, Culture and Society Research Culture – School of Natural and Built Environment, and the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen’s university Belfast.
A big Thank you (!) to John Byrne and his team at the Lagan Weir, Gascia Ouzounian, Paul Stapleton, Craig Jackson, and Sarah Lappin.
© 2018 Optophono. All rights reserved.