BOSTIN NEWS: SOUND ALOUD

On a regular Monday morning in Dudley, just after the COVID restrictions had begun to lift, creative artist Gavin Rogers led a small group of women, POC and members of the LGBTQIA+ community into Netherton Tunnel.

The Victorian Tunnel is almost 3km in length and stretches along the canal and beneath Dudley. A space originally built by and for men so horses and boats could support trade and industry. A place, at the time of construction, not at all intended for the diverse folks in this inclusive group. 

Gavin worked in collaboration with another local artist and researcher, Emily Warner, to begin to understand and adapt to the space before inviting the group of participants to join them.

Gavin and Emily used a method called ‘empathy mapping’ to respond to the tunnel, coming to terms with the claustrophobic, damp environment and noting the effects it had on their emotions and bodies. Through this exploration and their ongoing conversations, the artists found ways to make this dark, initially uninviting place not only safe but inspirational and the perfect place for co-creation when the participants arrived.

One of the participants, Jennifer, explained that the group was initially nervous and slightly wary of the daunting space. One participant was even very scared of the dark and felt that they were unable to go into the darkest parts of the tunnel. The artists and other participants were so committed to the collaborative process they co-created a method to ‘pass the sound along’ the space meaning that no one was in a position that made them feel uncomfortable.

Standing in line, around 10 meters apart, along the length of the tunnel the participants were asked to try a technique Gavin called ‘deep listening’. The participants were invited to listen to the individual to the left and right of them and use their voices to respond to each other in order to pass sounds down the length of the tunnel. Magically the echo from the beginning to the end of the space was around 7 seconds, meaning that several notes could be carried through the entirety of the tunnel using this technique. Through the imaginations and creativity of the group, a place that originally felt ominous was being actively re-imagined with sound, voice, lights and torches as somewhere that could be uplifting and positive, even playful and childlike.

Gavin commented that:

“Making sounds and being in silence together in this place that initially felt hostile was an incredible bonding and uplifting experience”.

The open brief from Dudley Creates allowed Gavin, Emily and the participants to be responsive to the tunnel and each other which opened up the possibility to create something incredibly unique and special. Participant Jennifer recalls that although apprehensive at the beginning she soon “felt like Mariah Carey singing in a tunnel under Dudley”. A collection of tracks made throughout Sound Aloud are available to listen to on Soundcloud and one was even played in a local nightclub. Jennifer has the tracks on her phone and regularly listens to them to brighten her mood and remember the joyfulness of the project. The tunnel and the tracks now feel like a safe space that spark happy memories.

Several of the participants commented that although they were strangers at the start of the Sound Aloud project by the end they felt like a unit, a choir and as one describes the group “the tunnel tribe”. They had each used their voices as individuals and collaboratively as a collective which lead to them finding beautiful connections to their creativity, to place and to each other. 

Written by Laura Dicken