Simon Whitehead

Tracings

Following my Father's recent death, wandering this landscape was to encounter the resonance of 'traces', of literal footprints and the exho of presence. My work was to relate to these echoes through acts of following; walking barefoot in a stream to the sea with Ben, wearing others shoes, following unknown paths, dancing to Elvis for one hour, circumnavigating the Preseli Hills in car whilst barefoot, walking home bound at the wrist to 4 other men; transpersonal rites, meditations on death, memory and navigation.

Wandering became a strategy to mirrow my very personal sense of loss and my search was to translate this into a universal action that became one of celebration and reconnection to life. During the public showing of Crwydro I was eventually to guide 100 people on a walk to view the work of the other artists, whilst inviting them to exchange shoes with each other.

Beyond the timescale of the physical project I have returned to the woodland and hills a number of times and made 5 sound tracings in 5 sites.

These 5 tracings refer to specific actions and walks made during the project that continue to resonate as memory. Revisiting, the tracings were made in particular sites with binaural microphones attached to my head, turning clockwise 360' over 30 seconds, whilst looking out to the horizon.

What results is a 3D sonic image that destablises my existing connection/memory to these places, making new ones between myself and the situation...a place of slipping prepositions, of loss and reorientation.

Listen to the Audio:

stream(mp3 300kb)

we sway as trees(mp3 300kb)

rock(mp3 300kb)

rock 2(mp3 300kb)

*TO BE LISTENED TO THROUGH EARPHONES