Viv Corringham
Walking
Innova #872
1. Maresia 08:57
2. Skywalks 07:34
3. Island Lines 09:44
4. Disegno 03:38
5. Slack Tide 05:32
6. Town with Sea 09:35
7. Broken Land 04:46
(49:46)
Vocals by Viv Corringham
My thanks to everyone who walked
with me in Porto, Minneapolis, Hong Kong, London and Brooklyn: Anne, Armando,
Brian, Carolina, Derek, Erik, Joana, Jose Pedro, Samuel, Somely, Tomás &
Yang
www.vivcorringham.org
These works were all composed between 2009 and 2013. Most are part of my ongoing project Shadow-walks in which I request
to be taken on a special walk with an individual, a walk that has been repeated
many times and has meaning for the person. We walk together and I record the
conversations and environmental sounds. I then repeat the walk alone,
attempting to sense my previous companion’s traces on the now solitary walk and
to make the memory of shared time and experience audible through singing. These
compositions integrate singing, narration and the sounds of the place.
1. Maresia and 6. Town with Sea are both set in Porto, Portugal and were made possible by Serralves
Museum of Contemporary Art. Six people took me on their special walks: by the
port, through a park, up to a panoramic bar, along a promenade, to the shops
and beside the sea.
2. Skywalks is based on my fascination with the skyway system of Minneapolis: eight
miles of climate-controlled passages and bridges which have brought the city
indoors, transporting pedestrians above street level to shops and workplaces
and passing through
indoor courtyards where trees and fountains recall the outside world.
3. Island Lines is set in Hong Kong and was made possible by the organization
Soundpocket. In the vibrant, multi-layered sonic environment of Hong Kong three
people volunteered to take me on walks: one to the market street where she grew
up, another to a peaceful spot by the harbour and the third on a regular walk
to the library.
4. Disegno and 5. Slack Tide are both from London, my former
hometown. Two artists took me on walks near their homes, one in Little Venice
and the other in East London beside the River Thames.
7. Broken Land occurred in Brooklyn by the polluted Gowanus Canal, on a walk in the
company of a Dutch poet. Proteus Gowanus gallery presented the work.
Viv Corringham is a British
vocalist, sound artist and composer, currently based in New York, who has worked
internationally since the early 1980s. She was
a McKnight Composer fellow in 2006 and 2012 through the American Composers
Forum. She has an MA Sonic Art from
Middlesex University, London, UK and a certificate in Deep Listening from
composer Pauline Oliveros.
She is interested in exploring
people’s special relationship with familiar places and
how that links to personal history, memory and association. These concerns are
at the heart of her ongoing project Shadow-walks, which has so far
occurred in 18 places in
the USA, Canada, Asia and Europe. The experiences and materials gathered on these walks find their
way into sound installations, recordings and concert pieces.
She leads listening
walks and has created a free iPhone app that uses the device’s GPS to activate
different soundworks on a walk. Called Arrivals, it was launched in 2012
at Deep Listening Institute, Kingston NY.
Her work has been presented recently at Institute of Contemporary Arts
London; Around Sound Art Festival Hong Kong; Abrons Arts Center New York City;
Tempo Reale Festival Florence; Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art Porto; C33
Gallery Chicago and Tate Modern London.
Articles about her work have appeared in many publications, including In
the Field (UK), Anthology of Essays on Deep Listening (USA), Organised
Sound (UK), Musicworks (Canada), Playing With Words (UK) and For
Those Who Have Ears (Ireland).
More information can be found at www.vivcorringham.org
I am very grateful to all the
walkers who have shared their time and their walks with me. This project would
not have been possible without their generosity. I am also grateful to the
McKnight Foundation, whose composer fellowships allowed me the time and resources
to travel and make this work.
Composition, vocals, recording and mixing by Viv Corringham.
Mastering on Maresia and Town with Sea by Mike Olson at
Intuitive, Minneapolis.
Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation.
Philip Blackburn, director, design
Chris Campbell, operations manager
Steve McPherson, publicist
Innova.mu