105525/Z/14/Z: Afterlife

Project Summary:Afterlife is a contemporary meditation on death, which employs the use of 'decomposition narratives' - text- and sound-based descriptions of the body decomposing - to take the listener on a journey beyond death. This project is to research, develop and produce the sound artworks. We will work with Dr Carolyn Rando, Forensics expert at University College London, to explore decomposition of the body in several settings, including an urban waterway, a forest, a street pavement, a climate control led museum and a room in a house. This will enable us to develop several decomposition narratives based on different environments, exploring the impact of temperature, moisture, animals, microbes and other environmental factors in each setting. We will work Dr Bill Davies and the Psychoacoustics Department at University of Salford to deliver a symposium that will disseminate our findings, and give us a platform to showcase the work-in-progress. We will also invite speakers to talk about sound , the body, death and place, to present artworks and papers reflecting the symposium's theme. Dr Bill Davies will also work with us on developing the technical aspects of the project, enabling us to create highly sophisticated sound works for different experiences for audiences - for such as headphones, outdoors and gallery. We will produce up to five works in progress, which will be broadcast and distributed via the web, and exhibited at events for audiences to test and experience at home ( via headphones) and in gallery and outdoor settings.

Grant Holder:Ms Rebecca French

Organisation:Miscellaneous London

Financial Year:2014/2015