Weymouth artist's sound idea (From Dorset Echo)

Weymouth artist's sound idea

5:20pm Saturday 17th July 2010

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BEACHGOERS who spy this man on the sands with his big microphone should not be alarmed – it’s all in the name of art.

Weymouth artist Joe Stevens is heading to the seaside this weekend to gather recordings for his sonic survey.

He will be on Weymouth Beach today and is heading to Bournemouth tomorrow to take part in the Public Domain festival, a celebration of public spaces through digital art, music interaction and screenings.

The festival is based around the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth.

It’s all very timely as Sunday is also World Listening Day, when a series of events is held to highlight the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us.

Joe will be contributing to this global project with the recordings he makes on the beach.

Joe, 49, used to work for Weymouth and Portland Housing and is now concentrating on his art, getting involved with digital media projects.

He is currently working on a photography project with people suffering from dementia as well as helping schoolchildren to produce a newspaper with a difference.

For the festival he will be asking people what sounds they associate with the seaside, including beach memories, before recording them.

He said: “Our trips to the seaside are usually described in visual terms such as, ‘oh what a lovely view’.

“But it is often our sense of hearing that defines our experience of being beside the sea.

“From the quiet sounds of the waves lapping on the beach, to the sound of families laughing together.”

Joe will use his time at Weymouth for a practice session before he heads to the festival, where he will be running his sound workshop from 2pm to 5pm.

If you want to submit sound ideas for Joe’s project emailhim at joe@ 51degreesnorth.net For details about the festival visit: www.scansite.org/publicdomain

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