In The Air
An Installation of Sounds and Voices
Kilver Court Gardens, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
16 September – 8 October 2017
In the Air was an immersive sound installation by David Ward, commissioned by Somerset Art Works for the Kilver Court Gardens in Shepton Mallet. It included a new composition by Orlando Gough and formed part of A Landscape of Objects, a major commissioning project for Somerset Art Weeks Festival in 2017.
The installation unobtrusively transformed six of the great arches in the Charlton Viaduct (which passes through the Gardens) into ‘sound rooms’. As visitors wandered freely from one to the next, fragments of many quotations including Milton, Marco Polo and Homer drew them to another arch where they might catch the sounds of flowing water, rustling leaves or distant trains. Intermittently weaving these quotations and ambient sounds together was Garden Song, a poem written by David, set to music by composer Orlando Gough and sung by Rebecca Askew.
A list of the source material for In the Air is included by Angela Kingston, in an online review describing her experience of the work, for a-n The Artists Information Company. To read the full review, click here.
