opensqlogo
About
+ Studio
Projects
+ A World of Sound
+ Monkey Business
+ Local Barometer
+ Reasons To Be Cheerful
+ Wing Back Chairs
+ Lost & Found
+ Media Mediators
+ Weegie
+ Black Beacon Receiver
Sonic Vista
+ Background & Projects
Contact

+ Information

Black Beacon Receiver
Orford Ness, Suffolk / 2005
collaboration with Steve Waldron for artist Louise K Wilson

 
blackbeaconlistener
 

Audio system electronics and custom-built hardware for an exhibition by Louise K Wilson, a British artist with a particular interest in the memory of institutions.

Orford Ness, on the Suffolk coast, was owned by the British military between 1913 - 1985, during which time it was the centre of research for many War Department secret research initiatives, including the development of RADAR, the first British atomic bomb tests and satellite tracking during the Cold War.

De-commissioned in 1985, the site lay empty until the National Trust acquired it in 1993, opening it to the public in 1995, by which time nature had started to reclaim the site. Assuming a deliberately non-interventionist stand, the vegetated shingle ridges and bird colonies now co-exist amongst the slowly deteriorating architectural remains of its former life, adding to the aura of mystery.

Louise recorded a 7 part sound piece to install in the Black Beacon, an octagonal building built in 1928 to house an experimental 'rotating loop' navigation beacon. It now provides an elevated viewing area over the site via 7 viewing slots.

 
black beacon
listening horn
The audio system comprises of 7 custom-built earpieces, designed to resemble curious , abandoned military equipment, connected to a central 'transmitter' unit, housing a bank of MP3 players triggered by a motion sensor. With no mains electricity on site, the challenge was to provide a solution which would delight and captivate the audience using only battery power!
all phones
headset1
headset2
receiver

© opensq 2008