In Sound
Feast invited sound artist Ryan Woods to develop a sound workshop for the Secret Garden. Focusing on listening practices and acoustic technologies, Ryan guided a participatory workshop where those attending engaged with the sounds of the garden, focusing on the acoustic connections between plants, soil, structures and bodies, recording what they encountered.
You can listen to a selection of different sounds recorded by workshop participants below.
The workshop group further hosted an evening showcase inviting the public to listen to live and recorded sounds from the garden. Recordings made throughout the day were re-played into the space alongside amplified ‘live’ sounds of the garden- submerged microphones in the pond, contact mics hidden under tree bark and soil - inviting visitors to experience the garden through listening.
Following the sound workshop participants were invited to The Place Platt Lane for a day’s introduction to sound editing, working their recorded sounds into short compositions. Participants further attended a morning of listening at NOVARS Manchester University Department of Music, hearing their recorded compositions in surround sound.
Ryan is continuing to work with Feast and Fallowfield Secret Garden to install recording devices that monitor the ecological activity of the site over a 12 month period.
Ryan Woods is a sound artist and electroacoustic composer. His work explores place, ecology and community using fixed media, soundscape composition, field recordings and sound walks. He is currently undertaking a PhD in electroacoustic composition at the University of Manchester. He runs The Manchester Ear with Hayley Suviste.
The sound event at the garden was supported by:
The Fallowfield Secret Garden, The Manchester Ear, FEAST Journal, The University of Manchester - NOVARS, SALC and A Modest Show