
04 Apr Tonic of the Wild
Artist Sam Gare and I have been looking into ways of using sound as an art installation. The concept began a while ago for both parties involved. For my part, I had become interested in making a piece of art into a functional, working concept and also creating a piece which is more of a sculptural offering, possibly using Bitumen or Concrete as a material to sculpt from. Sam Gare had wanted to use sound as a way to influence calmness onto peoples commute around the city. Her work has always been influenced by the mountain ranges of far off places such as Norway and Greenland. As we are both represented by the same gallery in London, the Curious Duke, it seemed only a matter of time before both of us worked on a collaborative piece together.
So, over several pints in Merton and several meetings with the Curious Duke, we decided to embark on our project to capture sound by using a working monolith. The first one we would build would be a prototype for the project which we would create from timber and bitumen with an enclosed box space to the side of the monolith which we would install a Tascam digital sound recorder. This would give us scope to record for 4 hours overnight in an isolated place. We had identified a deserted island to do this on previously. The recording would capture all the sounds we felt we would need to give us an isolated, wild atmosphere surrounded by birds, native animals, trees and the winds movement. This creating a sample of the Tonic of the Wild sound we are looking for.
Working as a collaboration with another artist is something I have wanted to experience for some time. I have admired Sam Gare’s work for a long time, we exhibit at the affordable art fairs together as well as in house at the Curious Duke during group shows. Her work is produced with pencil, pastel and pen in similar size and format to mine. I believe we both share a similar outlook on art and the natural world, this helps greatly when collaborating on a project such as this.
You can find a link to Sam Gare’s work here. www.samgare.com