Nathan Harmer: The Silence of Displacement
Train Journey, From Ramsgate to London, Saturday 10th May 2014, beginning 11.55am
Through the reoccurrence and duration of a journey spent idle in a non-place such as a train carriage we are often inclined to either be ruminating on past events (where we have come from) or speculating on the outcomes of future events (where we are going), we rarely take the opportunity to be present here and now within the moment, within the journey, receptive to the nuances of the soundscape that underscores our experience.
The sound pieces that you may notice throughout the train journey from Ramsgate to London, scattered between the silence of the carriage, itself take direct inspiration from this. You may hear a variety of sounds recorded from a train like the one where the event takes place, manipulated and transformed into a bed of sound.In addition to this you may hear similar processes applied to a live feed of the electro-magnetic signals that emanate from the workings of the train. These signals, while naturally outside of our aural perception, bathe us wherever we go, whether it be wireless signals such as wi-fi and radio transmissions or the spinning of wheels on the track beneath you. These signals sing, chirp and drone generating rhythms and textures. When these signals are transposed to our range of hearing we can bare witness to the silent songs of mechanical labour.
Buy tickets and more information for this train journey [click here]
image: Nathan Harmer recording the electro-magnetic signals of a train, kindly provided by Southeastern Railways
Nathan Harmer has been developing the sound installation aspect of Resting Place over the coming 2-years
