Helen V. Pritchard

Spirit Rally (2010)

Sonic Peripheries: Spirit Rally, was a month long solo exhibition of interactive sound work and a live citizen science listening event. Designed as both a celebration of human and non human conversation and a temporary community of practice. Throughout the exhibition and events participants were invited to immerse themselves in an agenda of real-time sounds and perform the work of a citizen scientist. LIve streams from the international hydraphone network ( a network of hydraphones, that invites worldwide listeners to detect the presence of Orcas), were mixed with sounds from microphones inside the gallery as well as microphones installed outside the gallery walls -generating a layering of sonic spaces. The result was an eerily layered sonicscape. The sounds were activated by visitors by using custom video tracking algorithms for interactive sound made in Max MSP. Based upon emerging models of crowd-sourcing, the work aimed to explore how we might share a sonic language in order to facilitate individual thinking to a collective level.

I also invited those attending to take a seat at the Spirit Rally committee table. Listeners were also welcome. The rally was an invitation to become part of a temporary committee, to reclaim the act of co-participation and contribute to a live collective sonic experiment.  The work formed part of the my ongoing research in the relationships between communities of practice and natural, human & social collective capital.

The work was first presented in June 2010 as part of Sonic Peripheries in Bremen, Germany. Funded by Bremen University, Sonic Peripheries and Arts Council England for the Compass live art programme at East Street Arts, Leeds.