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 Production still from Silent Sound performance. Photo: Anne Worthington Silent Sound
is Forsyth and Pollard's most ambitious work to date, it is a performance and installation and was presented as part of the Liverpool Biennial of
contemporary art 2006.
In 1865 at St. George's Hall, Victorian entertainers The Davenport Brothers performed their public séance act to an audience desperately searching for a bridge between the living and the souls of the dead. Victorian Britain was fascinated by the unearthing of new science, understandings of reality and discoveries about the inner working and potential of the human brain and mind that reached to a belief in new possibilities for the survival of the soul. Unused for over twenty years, the Small Concert Hall in St. George's Hall reopened to host Silent Sound and the artists performed on the same stage used by The Davenports.
The artists joined forces with two uniquely talented collaborators. Jason Pierce, leader of the critically acclaimed band Spiritualized, wrote the musical composition which was performed on the night by 12 strings, 8 horns, a piano and tubular bells.
Dr. Ciarán O'Keeffe, a leading authority in psychology and parapsychology from Liverpool Hope University also known for his media appearances on Living TV's 'Most Haunted', worked closely with the artists to underpin a strategy combining modern scientific and pseudoscientific techniques to consume and physically affect the audience to create a deliberately highly charged situation.
An installation of Silent Sound was then presented as part of the inaugral programme at the major new contamporary art space, Greenland Street. An ambisonic audio recording of the live performance will be incorporated into a large-scale immersive installation specifically created by the artists to continue the event's exploration of the mind's potential receptiveness to suggestion.
A live CD was presented to each audience member minutes after the performance and is also available to buy as a limited edition. There will also be a DVD featuring footage from the performance, a short documentary and interviews released in 2007.
Iain and Jane worked with Chris Bigg and Vaughan Oliver at V23 on all of the graphics for the project. Other collaboraters to the project are Charles Poulet as audio consultant, Noah Roase on the design and production of the cabinet and machine, John Bell from FXV on the design of the installation, ARUP on the ambisonic recording and installation and Live Here Now on the instant recording and production of the live CD.
Silent Sound First performed at St. George's Hall, Liverpool on 14 September 2006. First exhibited at Greenland Street, Liverpool from 15 September - 26th November 2006.
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