A (Temporary) New Lease of Life for the Pier Kiosk
Wednesday, 14 January, 2009
The West Pier might be no more but a new, if only, temporary use has been found for the kiosk that stands on the landward end of where the pier was.
Between December 12th 2008 and February 22nd 2009 it is going to be one of 24 component pieces of "The Fragmented Orchestra".
At first glance it is just an old octagonal wooden kiosk, the remains of what once used to be a proud pier.
But, in fact, the structure off King's Road is acting as one of 24 "neurons" around the country, mirroring the actions of the human brain to form a brand new piece of contemporary music.
Like 23 other locations across the country, the kiosk is being fitted with a microphone and a cutting-edge Feonic speaker, which turns any resonant surface, such as glass or wood, into a loudspeaker.
The national "neuron" network is spread across a wide range of locations, including a cattle market in Aberdeen, London's National Portrait Gallery, Gloucester Cathedral, the Bronte Parsonage Museum in West Yorkshire, a Devon primary school and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
At the centre is the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool, which will have 24 speakers collecting all the fragments of sounds from the 24 different locations.
Each of the sites has a soundbox installed, which will stream human-made and elemental sounds from the site via an artificial neuron to one of 24 speakers in FACT. The sound will only be transmitted when the neuron fires. A firing event will cause fragments of sound to be relayed to the gallery and will also be communicated to the cortex as a whole. The combined sound of the 24 speakers at the gallery will be continuously transmitted back to the sites and to each of the 24 sites.
The sounds of The Fragmented Orchestra will vary according to location; wind over Black Fell, inner city traffic, chanting from sports stadia and the chatter of migrating birds arriving for the winter will be combined with incidental and performed sounds from members of the public. The public, invited to play the instrument at the 24 sites, will be able to hear the effect their playing has on the overall composition of the piece at each site and at FACT. As members of the public use the instrument they will become both player and audience of a vast and evolving musical composition extended across the UK.
If a big cheer goes up at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the neuron there will capture fragments of the sound, and transmit them over the internet to the gallery in Liverpool. The composition is then transmitted back to the different sites so people will be able to hear what is being heard in the gallery through the speakers.
When people go and hear the composition at each site they will be able to change it by the sound they make. It models the behaviour of the cortex of the brain in a biologically accurate way. The activity and behaviour of the neurons is very musical - they stimulate each other like members of an orchestra."
The piece will also be streamed online at www.thefragmentedorchestra.com, although it is only by physically going to one of the 24 sites that people will be able to affect the sound.
"The sound is getting more and more complex as we install the sound boxes," says Nick. "It is difficult to say what it's going to sound like from all 24 speakers. It will be overwhelming in the gallery space.
"What we have discovered is that the sound is very familiar. It's not a random sound or an unpleasant one.
"It is an almost primordial, rhythmic sound. All the component parts are almost recognisible, but all the fragments come together to make something completely new."
Visitors to the West Pier kiosk can take part in the Fragmented Orchestra 24 hours a day for free.
Visit www.thefragmentedorchestra.com for more details.