Thursday 26th July 2012 – Deptford X Contemporary Arts Festival – London Sound Art.

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Jay

Y Secret Soundtrack - London Sound Art - Jay Harris ou may remember that when I planned my work of London sound art, Secret Soundtrack, Paul who runs Arch Materials suggested that I enter the project to be included in the Deptford X Contemporary Arts Festival. Needless to say, I entered and was lucky enough to be included!

The Festival is explained perfectly on the blog ‘Crosswhatfields?‘:

“Deptford’s annual contemporary visual arts festival kicks off this Friday to run concurrently with the Olympics until 12th August.

There is so much to go and see it’s too big a job for us to pick out what may be the highlights – so have a look at the website at www.deptfordx.org.

Apart from some big names invited by the lead curators Hew Locke & Indra Khanna, and work commissioned by Lewisham Council, there are over 50 fringe artists or projects popping up all over the place in shops and on the sides of buildings, in the streets and other more unusual places, plus gallery shows, open studios, events and performances.

There’s a free printed map to tell you where everything is, which you can pick up in various venues. To find out more about the actual work on show, download the brochure from the website or buy one for a quid at Creekside Cafe (on Creekside) and Arch Materials (in Resolution Way). The map can also be downloaded. Both are indispensible if you want to know what’s going on. There are also walking and cycling tours to help you navigate your way around and not miss the best stuff.

The curators’ theme for the festival centres on “the decorative”: “Surrender to the pleasure of the decorative. Revel in the excessive, embrace it and be dazzled…But… Layers of decoration contain levels of meaning, messages and codes – symbols of power, conspicuous consumption, signals of elitist knowledge, patterns of control and signs of social belonging…” All that glitters is not gold, perhaps?”

About Secret Soundtrack:

Secret Soundtrack is a work of sound where the recordings used are taken from the local environment and ordered in such a way as to create a performance. Mysterious, decorative posters will be located at Deli X cafe, the Deptford Lounge library and The Deptford Project Cafe. Each poster contains a QR Code and it is this that you scan with your QR Code reader on your smartphone. You then plug in your headphones and listen while exploring Deptford High Street, allowing the natural sound to compliment the recordings you are hearing to produce one immersive semi-live, semi-recorded performance.

So, what are you waiting for?? Download the festival guide here and the trail map here!

Thursday 31st May 2012 – Follow the Smart Trail along Deptford’s Secret Soundtrack – London Sound Art

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Jay

Local Sound Art to Showcase and Promote Deptford High Street.

‘Secret Soundtrack’ uses ‘3D sound’ recorded in Deptford Market, based on and around Deptford High Street, to create a theatrical atmosphere that people can experience as they wander around the market. Sound art, as a relatively undiscovered art form, seems like the perfect way to bring attention to one of south London’s lesser-known gems: Deptford High Street. I have created ‘Secret Soundtrack’, a work of sound art, which will be interactively-accessible on the High Street throughout June, in collaboration with local businesses/organisations.

To take part in ‘Secret Soundtrack’ you will need a smart phone equipped with a QR Code reader and a pair of earphones. ‘Secret Soundtrack’ can be accessed from 1st June to 30th June 2012 by scanning the QR code on one of the posters located at ‘The Deptford Project’ cafe, ‘Bearspace’ gallery, art supplies store ‘Arch Materials’, delicatessen cafe ‘Deli X’, and ‘Deptford Lounge’ library; all based on and around Deptford High Street and chosen as supporters of this neighbourhood and community arts.

Scanning the QR Code takes you to the ‘Secret Soundtrack’ website where you will be given instructions on what to do next. You will be encouraged to explore the market while listening to the audio streamed from the website, making sure not to drown out the live sounds. You can expect to hear sounds recorded from the market, reproduced in such a way as to become something new when played in conjunction with listening to the live sounds around you. It is this mixture, when experienced together, that gives you access to a secret audio world created from the local environment. The market takes place every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and a visit on one of these days is recommended to experience ‘Secret Soundtrack’s’ full effect.

I wish to see the local area prosper so that it may continue to inspire and grow. With the 2012 Olympics, Britain and London, in particular, are being celebrated this year and I strongly believe that Deptford High Street is a fine example of what it means to be British: Culturally diverse, traditional, forward thinking and quirky. These are some of the area’s special qualities that provided the inspiration for ‘Secret Soundtrack’, which I hope to see flourish; and I’m hoping this work will contribute. Inspiration has also come from ideas put forward by experimental musician John Cage in pieces like 4’ 33”. His notions on what an audio performance can contain have been central to the project

It is free to be a part of ‘Secret Soundtrack’ but your mobile network may charge you for streaming the audio necessary for the experience. I have also created a separate audio atmosphere for ‘The Deptford Project’ café which will be on display there from 1st – 8th June.

What are you waiting for? Go and put a Secret Soundtrack date in your diary!

Deptford Market takes place every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, from around 7am until 4pm and is home to stalls that sell fresh fish, groceries, antiques, clothes and other collectibles.

Poster venue opening hours:
The Deptford Project -
(café – 121 Deptford High Street, Deptford, SE8 4NS)
Monday to Saturday: 9.00am – 5.30pm
Sunday: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Deli X -
(café/deli – 156 Deptford High Street, Deptford, SE8 3PQ)
Monday to Friday: 8am – 7pm
Saturday: 9am – 5pm
Sunday – Closed

Arch Materials -
(Art Supplies – 17 Resolution Way (off Deptford High Street), Deptford, SE8 4NT)
Monday – Saturday: 10.00am – 5.00pm
Sunday – Closed

Bear Space –
(art space – 152 Deptford High Street, Deptford, SE8 3PQ)
Wednesday – Saturday: 10.00am – 5.00pm
Sunday – Tuesday: Closed

Deptford Lounge –
(Library/public space – 9 Giffin Street, Deptford SE8 4RJ)
Monday – Friday: 7am – 10pm.
Saturday and Sunday: 7am – 7pm.

Take a look around my site for further works of sound art. You will also find soundscape works created for events, composing works and sound design. If you would like to commission a work of sound art contact me with your project’s requirements

If my work in soundscape for events, sound design for film, or composing interests you join my mailing list to find out more.

Tuesday 3rd April 2012 – Secret Soundtrack

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Jay

Central to my interest in composing, soundscape and sound design is the creation of all-immersive atmosphere that gets to the very core of the subject that is being displayed. Music, my main love, can be inadequate at conveying information as it is so reliant on the audience being fully tuned into what the creator is saying. This leads to a partitioning of the audience into a group that understands, a group that doesn’t understand and a group that draws it’s own conclusions. In my opinion, this leads to elitism and snobbery as the ‘understanders’ and ‘think-they-understanders’ want to bolster their egos by letting the world know how clever they are because they can understand the vague messages. Music, so often touted as the voice of the people, then becomes a voice of people in a select crowd of accepted personalities, ironically mirroring the elitist groups of business people and cultural directors that are providing the force against which these ‘artists’ usually want to rebel.

Of course, music still is my main love and the intricacies that can be created and used to work with as well as against emotion have the potential for extreme beauty. However, as mentioned, music is not always the best way to convey ideas, and this is where a branch of my interest comes to light.

I wanted to create some work that is all-inclusive and able to communicate an experience without it being only understood by musicians, music fans, or artists, etc, etc. I wanted to create an experience or atmosphere that anybody could take part in but would still communicate a specific message. This all-inclusive ideology goes hand-in-hand with the notion of community, and coupled with the fondness I have of my local area I saw an idea forming. Also, I’ve always had a need to promote diversity and not let the unconventional be dominated by mainstream notions.

This is where the idea for Secret Soundtrack came from. Secret Soundtrack is a hidden experience that you can immerse yourself in and be a part of at any time that suits you. Also, no single performance is ever the same although it’s basic thread will always be present no matter when you experience it. Secret Soundtrack isn’t music, but it is the creation of an atmosphere or show that you are a part of. It creates rhythm, melody and progression similar to what you might expect from music but it challenges your perception of the use of sound in atmosphere and it makes you focus on your surroundings whilst allowing you to get lost in a fantasy world. The aim of the project is to bring attention to a specific area and to allow an audience to get acquainted with a culture. Familiarity is a precursor to fondness, which then leads to more positive word-of-mouth. This should develop more positive attention, which should increase affluence on an area’s own terms. The dull British suburban high street hasn’t been able to achieve this and you can see this just be wondering around them and seeing the domination of big business. This has made so many high streets all look the same. In my opinion, this is both boring and stifling to innovation and on a more sinister note people will be less familiar with the concept of diversity and therefore naturally suspicious and negative towards it.

Secret Soundtrack is almost finished and I aim to bring it to Deptford, south-east London this summer. I am currently drumming up interest from local business so they may be a part of this project. It doesn’t cost anything to take part, so if you represent a business along Deptford High Street and you like this idea please do get in touch for more information. For everyone else, I’ll divulge more specific information as the project progresses…