Author Archives: Elizabeth Lane

Have a Listen…

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Our first draft of our audio was complete, and so we all met up steep hill today to see whether it had the effect we anticipated in our site. We began by listening to it as a collective and closing our eyes, thinking about each noise and how it made us feel, I found at certain points my imagination wandered to something else, and then I would suddenly hear something within the audio and I would be dragged back in. Although I was dragged back in, I didn’t want this to be the case, I wanted the audio to be an all round interesting and almost overwhelming experience. constantly keeping you on your toes as to who is goig past and what you are surrounded by as well as what is about to happen next. My group felt similar; however we felt we needed an outside perspective to see if they felt the same.

We met up with Rachel and showing her our route we set her on her path with the audio. Where we met her at the end to discuss what she felt we could change. The main criticism that we were given was that it needed more build up, although there were nice points to it and it sounded realistic, their needed to be more build up to the end result as when you got there it was slightly confusing. We also needed to add more soundscapes in which would make our audience stop or pause fro moments and look, or feel like they need to look in a certain direction etc. As Rachel got to the end of the route within a minimal amount of time and therefore was starring at the Cathedral for the duration it did not have the intended effect, however the end did raise goose bumps which we were happy with. Although we feel we could make this impact a lot bigger if we made the audio before it build up to the main event.

Getting to the Route of things

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I’ve found it difficult to think of a route off the top of my head when thinking about our audio. I believe that with our audio a simple route was needed so that the audience could appreciate what they were listening to and not have to concentrate on holding maps or working out where they are. I also thought that with a simple route it would mean that the audience would be able to appreciate their surroundings more as they could look in each direction and see how the audio fits with what they were walking past, this is why I decided to look at Newport Arch, I felt that it was quite a distance from the Cathedral that it would be a nice walk for people to take but also had interesting buildings and places to look at on the way back along towards the Cathedral. I also felt that the different shops and pubs along the way would fit in well with the sounds that we have within our audio.

I began to look into the history of the area specifically looking at Newport Arch, I was interested to find that it is the most famous Roman remain in Lincoln as well as the best preserved. The gateway straddles Bailgate at the northern extremity of the old Roman city; this is where the old Roman Ermine Street struck north towards York.

Dates are found to the stat of the 2nd Century AD, the arch was mainly made to act as a main gateway for transportation and to create the main road to pass through north to York, however it is still used today and from what is known, it is the only Roman arch still in use for daily transportation. However the arch that we in fact see today is merely the upper section of the inner arch as the outer section was destroyed in the 17th century. In 1964 the Arch also found itself victim to an accident as a tall lorry passed through it without realising the restriction and as the lorry became stuck under the central arch bits of the archway began to become dislodged where they had stood for over 1800 years. Over the years this got built back up and therefore was able to still be used however the restriction is made apparent to make sure such an incident does not occur again.

I then began to look at Exchequer Gate and the history behind it as I thought it would be quite interesting starting at a gateway then ending by passing through another gateway to get to the final destination. Exchequer Gate was where tenants who had rented properties from the Church would meet to pay their rent. Built in the 14th century it acted as the main ceremonial access to the Cathedral.

The path from Newport Arch to Exchequer Gate is a simple walk where audience members can take in each site around them and their will be a confidence that they will not get lost as even if they are unaware of the exact places in which I am saying, I can easily explain where to go through a means of places on the way as well as following the path down or walking towards the Cathedral so automatically the worry about finding the end point goes and therefore the audience can fully interact with the audio.

Britain Express (1996) Newport Arch, Lincoln. [online] Available from http://www.britainexpress.com/about_Britain_Express.htm [Accessed 12 April 2015]

Collins, R. (2012) Exchequer Gate in Lincoln – an Illustrated History. [online] Available from: http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/exchequer-gate-in-lincoln-an-illustrated-history/ [Accessed 12 May 2015]

Britain Express (1996) Exchequer Gate, Lincoln. [online] Available from http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/lincs/properties/Exchequer-Gate.htm [Accessed 12 May 2015]

 

What is an Earthquake

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When underground rock breaks along a fault, the sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that cause the ground to shake. When two pieces of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they begin to stick slightly, meaning although they are pushing against each other they do not move. Through time the rocks break causing an earthquake.

Both during and afterwards the plates and rock continue to move, this occurs until they are restricted again by one another and therefore become stuck once again.

The focus is known as the spot underground where the rock breaks, the place above the focus on top of the ground is called the epicenter.

The most severe damage is found closest to the epicenter and then dispursed from there outwards, earthquakes can alter in time depending on teh amount of energy that build up before the release, as well as the size of the breaking rocks or plates underground.

BBC (2014) GCSE Bitesize- Earthquakes and Global Warming. [online] London: BBC. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway_pre_2011/energy_home/6_stable_earth1.shtml

I love Lincoln Library

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Trying to find solid evidence of an earthquake which occurred in 1185 is not the easiest task which I have ever taken on, however it is one of the more interesting. After deciding to venture into Lincoln’s library to see what it had to offer we were approached by a Librarian who asked us what we were looking for, in this question truly started our mission.

Three librarians helped in the search for information for the 1185 earthquake as well as other earthquakes and natural disasters which may have helped our search. We soon found out about the fires, and numerous earthquakes yet none to the magnitude of the one in 1185.

I was most interested when we were given numerous letters stapled together from the 6th of December 1985 (Gates S, 1985) , a woman was wanting to know more about the earthquakes which had occurred in Lincoln, within this a Dr J. A. Galletly wrote that he had found from a date book which he had that there had been earthquakes in 1038, 1142 and 1185 (Galletly J.A, 1985). Using this knowledge I needed to know about said date book and the information in which it held. The librarian then went on a search and came back with a red date book warning us to be careful and to return it straight after use as it would have to be locked away again. The date book noted:

1185

“An earthquake which overthrew a Church and did considerable damage to the Cathedral, of which Benedict, the Abbot of Peterborough says, the like had not been heard in England: – That the rocks were rent, and the Cathedral Church of Lincoln was cleft from top to bottom ….” (The Date Book, 31)

We were also given newspaper cuttings from later years explaining the extent of earthquakes and the harm that it can do to wildlife, especially birds. Something else that did come of interest was a report that was announced which recalled any diaries, journals or personal media in any way, or any parish records etc which may shed a light on the 15 April 1185 earthquake. This allowed us to see that still even Lincoln council are issuing recalls for any information which could help them into their research of this event, of which the magnitude in England has been unheard of since.

The Date Book, R.E. Leary.

Galletly, J. A. (1985) Earthquakes in Lincoln. [letter] Sent to S Gates, 19 December. Lincoln: [Accessed 23 March 2015].

 

Janet Cardiff

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After returning to Site with the onset of showing Conan some of the work our group had been preparing, I unfortunately had to take a back seat to listen about the change in ideas that we had been thinking about.

With the ideas of the 1185 earthquake still prominent in our piece I have been researching the basis behind an earthquake, the basic movements and vibrations which must occur for this natural disaster to occur. However I was also intrigued to research a certain artist Janet Cardiff who is known specifically for her work with sound and sound installations.

I have specifically looked at an audio walk formed by Cardiff and Miller named Jena Walk (Memory Field). The basis behind this idea was the audience would listen to an audio piece which would include sound effects from battle scenes as well as excerpts from Louise Seidler’s Diary. Cardiff wanted to use a specific landscape where the Prussians and Napolean battle had taken place 200 years before, this landscape was also a place where Russian tanks did Military exercises and one where Louise Seidler; the painter of Goethe from Jena may have walked. Cardiff took the basis of these historical events to make an audio piece about time and memory, and how one site can hold so many memories yet so many make new memories their every day.  Throughout the audio piece one century slips to another and as the listener walks they begin to become aware of each step they are taking, of where they are, of the site they are walking on just as those have for the last 200 years and the stories from those last 200 years begin to mix. The excerpts from Seidler’s diary are cleverly used as …” a narrative that deal with the physicality of memory”. Cardiff, J. Miller, B.G. (2006)

Our own piece is about an earthquake in 1185 which destroyed the Cathedral, our idea for the audio is to almost relive this with the sound of what could be the rumbles that the earthquake would have made (our own interpretation) and the crashes and movements from buildings around them, until the end at the Cathedral with a newspaper headline read out about the fall of the Cathedral. However could we use inspiration from Cardiff’s work, could we use extracts throughout the piece to vocalise what happened rather than allow our listener to decide everything? Would it be better this way to get the audience thinking about if such a tragedy happened now?

Cardiff, J. Miller, B.G. (2006) JENA WALK ( MEMORY FILED). [online] Available from: http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/walks/jena.html [ Accessed 22 March 2015].