Chris Watson: The Town Moor - A Portrait in Sound

About

Opening 21 June 2016, Chris Watson: The Town Moor - A Portrait in Sound, has been a collaboration with BBC Newcastle and is an acoustic picture of the Town Moor - an ancient and vast grazing common located in the centre of Newcastle. 

Recorded over the course of one year, Chris Watson meticulously documented the sounds of the Town Moor as part of an original commission for BBC Newcastle. Working alongside BBC producer Murphy Cobbing, Watson’s material was woven into a four-part radio series and also archived on a dedicated BBC Online page. As a culmination to the project Watson has now reworked the recordings for The Gallery as a 40-minute ‘dark’ cinema experience that is presented in full-sphere ambisonic sound to create an incredibly rich and immersive sonic experience.

Following the aural narrative provided by the seasons, the audience will become the image-makers themselves. This curatorial concept aims to achieve two goals: providing Chris Watson’s practice with a new critical context and offering the audience an opportunity to reflect on the importance of sound within the cinematic experience.

Watson is renowned for creating soundscapes that evoke the atmosphere of a particular place, be that the sound of one ant walking for David Attenborough’s series Life in the Undergrowth, or in the case of Town Moor, an audio portrait of the green lungs at the heart of the city of Newcastle: its sounds, sights, birds, beasts and people.

A pioneer in deploying new technology to record the natural world, Watson has worked alongside Sir David Attenborough on many of his BBC series, including Frozen Planet and The Life of Birds; and he was also the founder member of 70s experimental postpunk group: Cabaret Voltaire. 

Exhibition programme of events:

Chris Watson: Wednesday 29th June 18:30-20:00
Aquatic Life Family Walk with Chris Watson: Saturday 2nd July 10:00-12:00 Night Bat Walk with Chris Watson: Saturday 9th July 21:42-23:00 at Leazes Park