Dreaming the Voyage

(Six years ago, the first phase of Dreaming the Voyage was created at my studio at The Wheelhouse in Trinity Bouy Wharf on the banks of the Thames in London. With the support of the TBW artist’s fund, I was able to buy the equipment needed for the installation. A big thank you to them and particularly John Burton for their support. Also to the tutors who had worked at Drake Music London for their patient support and gentle guidance. Thanks also to Dr Ju Gosling, Artistic Director. Together! 2012, David Bobier, VibroFusion Labs, and Concordia University. A special thank you to my collaborator and friend the artist, Tony Malone.)

Dreaming the Voyage was originally inspired by the thought of having unlimited opportunities to travel to wherever our imaginations take us. We do not have to be fettered by our inability to physically journey to destinations, nor do we need to be hampered by the strictures of time. Working in The Wheelhouse gave me opportunities to consider historic voyages both terrestrial, nautical and space travel. It also opened up the boundless range of imaginary voyages I would want to take with The Wheelhouse as my base.

This project meant that there were no restrictions or limits imposed on where I went. Unlike my real life experience as a wheelchair user, access wasn’t an issue. There were no boundaries.

The Sounds of the Universe, an integral part of The Voyage installation, originally came from the idea that the Universe has a range of (unheard) sounds that could be translated into colours, the Music of the Spheres. Pythagoras, a mathematician born in Samos, Greece in the fifth century BC) had observed that planets moved in the night sky. His theory was that where there was movement, there was sound.

He originally created a mathematical ratio of sound produced to the weight of the object creating it. For example, a blacksmith’s hammer striking an anvil can produce a different sound if the hammer was a different weight. This he put at a 2:1 ratio for an octave, or the same note but pitched higher.

By looking at string instruments, he could see the vibrations that created sound. At this point, recognising the movement that caused the sound, Pythagoras created a theory that the sound produced by the planets was unheard because humans didn’t realise it was there. When he observed objects creating sounds, he devised a formula that showed the speed of the planets and moon moving correlated to particular notes. Hidden sound beyond our hearing or understanding.

When reducing the speed of the planets to a mathematical equivalent he surmised that the sounds produced corresponded to a harmonic range, which he called the music of the spheres. Pythagoras ascribed colours in the spectrum to musical notes, believing them to be part of the whole. Dreaming the Voyage will always be ongoing, for there are no limits to the imagination. As a project, yes of course there is a limit to the actual input, but who is to say that once freed of these earthly bindings where our soaring spirits will travel? I like to think that the Dream Voyages will continue and we can join in the Harmony of the Universe.

When I started working on The Sounds of the Universe in the early 2000’s, it was the concept of colour linked to musical notes that initially caught my imagination. It was impossible to read about Pythagorean theories without being captured by the concept of harmonics emitted within the universe. My first dilemma was to find a colour coding that held up to scrutiny when linked to musical notes. All the writings seemed too subjective, and associated with individual’s personal theories of colour correlating to healing sounds. This was a whole different range of inquiry that needed a project with far greater learning in itself to explore. The obvious remedy was to assign random colours initially that could be refined or changed as the project developed.

To my delight, I was welcomed onto a Women and Music Course delivered by Drake Music London. It was there I was able to gain access to electronic music and a deeper understanding of basic music theory. The Drake Tutors were more than encouraging, and certainly patient to my questing!

The fourth piece I wrote was The Harmonics of the Universe. This was referencing the original reading of Pythagoras, and influenced by Steve Reich, and Tibetan throat chanting. The ambition was that by creating the right harmonics an overtone and beats would be generated. This would then be a reflection of the harmonics found in the universe.

And so the hunt began in finding a sample of a human voice uttering one note. This was then transposed repeatedly until a harmonic was formed. Then, as hoped for, the overtones and beats could be heard.

Overtones and beats are created by the vibrations that generate a sound overlying the fundamental sound produced. It is an almost magical process that creates something new and unexpected purely through sound waves vibrating. This was one of the results from my harmonics.

The first time I listened to the whole piece in the studio, I was moved to tears. In subsequent playing, I found that listeners felt moved to a different spiritual plane. This was never an intention but I found it interesting that it echoed some of the original thinking as posed by Pythagoras.

My preliminary work creating a series of audio-scapes representing the sounds of the Universe really inspired me to think beyond the earthly realms. I was able to use one of these pieces in my installation. Given that the work was created using vibrations, I started to explore how to translate that into a form that would potentially be accessible to a Deaf or Hearing Impaired audience.

When documenting my partner who was a Visiting Artist at a conference Canada, I was privileged to meet David Bobier who had created the VibraFusion Lab in London, Ontario in 2014. This was a creative multi-media centre providing inclusive technologies for supporting accessibility in the arts.

David was developing a wearable jacket that vibrated in response to music. He had a particular focus on the sensory perception of sound that would make music more accessible to Deaf People.

After consulting with him, I did some further research and found some work that was being undertaken at the Royal Maritime Museum in Greenwich. While focused on two specific exhibits of ships, rather than music orientated, the principles were very similar. The installation engineers were able to point me towards an engineering firm to explore the technology available.

Being based in The Wheelhouse which is a wooden construction provided an excellent opportunity to create a vibration based installation to launch the Dream Voyages. This was scheduled to coincide with London Open City Weekend at Trinity Bouy Wharf in 2017. The technology suited The Wheelhouse perfectly. The music was played through my laptop and speakers, then send through the door which generated the vibrations through the wooden walls. The result was a sound that could be heard audibly and through touch.

As people passed by, they were invited to stop and listen to the music and put their hands or ears against The Wheelhouse. It was also their opportunity to engage with the concept of the Dream Voyage. Subsequent to the launch, I was invited as a Guest Speaker to Concordia University to be part of a trio of artists engaged in a collaborative project, Vibrations, between the VibraFusion Labs, Concordia and Together! 2012 CIC, a Paralympic Legacy Disability Arts Organisation. My presentation was on Dreaming the Voyage and The Sounds of the Universe. I also ran workshops on Sound and Vibration for Together! 2012 as part of Vibrations.

Dreaming the Voyage will always be ongoing, for there are no limits to the imagination. As a project, yes of course there is a limit to the actual input, but who is to say that once freed of these earthly bindings where our soaring spirits will travel? I like to think that the Dream Voyages will continue and ultimately we can join in the Harmony of the Universe.

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For further reading about Pythagoras and his theories on the Music of the Universe. https://www.musicofthespheres.net/pythagoras/

This is a clipping from the flyer for the Concordia Conference.

Members of the Community and Differential Mobilities Cluster (Milieux) and

Concordia’s Critical Disability Studies Working Group invite you to:

Vibrations: Deaf/Disability Art, and Activisms Special Speakers and Workshop Evening

Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.