Town was crying out to star in film
The creak of the toilet door at Asda and the beep of the checkout scanner in Tesco are just some of the unusual sounds captured by an award-winning film maker in his latest work.
Marcus Coates's video and sound installation, Follow the Voice, will première at the Unitarian Church, High Street, Shrewsbury, where Charles Darwin worshipped as a child.
In a playful echo of Darwin's The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, the new film establishes striking parallels between a range of familiar man-made sounds and animal cries and calls.
Curator Adrian Plant said the artist visited the town to do some research on which sounds he would like to record and then asked him to set up some unusual interviews.
The list included the creak of the men's toilet door at Asda in Old Potts Way, which was likened to the cry of a humpback whale; a Tesco checkout (a bittern); a group of boys outside Subway (a nightjar); Coleham Primary School children (redwings and starlings); a bingo caller at Gala Bingo (coal tit) and a police siren (greenfinch.)
Adrian said he was surprised by how accommodating everyone was. “You expect people to say 'are you mad?' In fact, everyone, from supermarket store managers to head teachers, was open and creative,” added Adrian.
He said the duty manger at Adsa turned out to be a diver and very helpfully guided the artist to another door which appeared to echo the call of a dolphin.
“I would also like to give a special mention to Nicholas Pitt, manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres, who gave the artist permission to ride in the glass lift in the Pride Hill Centre after it was closed,” said Adrian. The sound of the lift has been likened to the call of a linnet.
Follow the Voice will run at the Unitarian Church from Saturday, July 11, to Saturday, August 8, from Wednesday to Saturday, noon till 4pm. It is a rare opportunity to view the inside of the church where the young Darwin worshipped.
It also accompanies the major new Opera North touring production, The Weather Man, which is on at Theatre Severn at 7.30pm on Saturday, July 11.
The film is co-commissioned with Shropshire Museums Services and Film & Video Umbrella with funding by Arts Council England.
See more details of the Follow the Voice event here
Sound & Video Downloads
You can download sound clips from the installation below
Preview a video clip from Follow the Voice
