"Colne Valley Listeners is...[part of] an initiative to create a dynamic and varied sculpture trail in the Colne Valley"

Sound artist Matthew Sansom has been commissioned by HCMF and the River Colne Sculpture Trail (RCST) to create a new, permanent sound installation, Colne Valley Listeners, to be opened at HCMF in November 2008.

Colne Valley Listeners will be sited at Rotcher Picnic Site in Slaithwaite, about four miles west of Huddersfield, in the picturesque Colne Valley. Through Colne Valley Listeners, Sansom aims to provide a sound-led experiential engagement with the Colne Valley and to employ active listening both as metaphor and as practice to deepen understanding of, and to enhance the relationship between, the commission's location, beauty and significance with people past, present and future.

There are four main elements to the project, or ‘four Colne Valley listeners' as Sansom calls them: the sculptural installation of an acoustic mirror; soundwalkers following a guided soundwalk with accompanying audio; workshop participants creating the soundwalk and individuals interacting with the sculptural installation.

The concept of an acoustic mirror draws inspiration from the gigantic concrete acoustic radar dishes from World War 1 and, also, from playground sound mirrors. The parabolic acoustic mirror will focus and subtly amplify the soundscape facing the dish at a focal point a small distance from the centre of the dish. Sansom explains that ‘Interaction with the acoustic mirror will form a subtle imprint upon awareness of the surrounding soundscape that visitors will take with them as they continue their walk. More specifically, it will serve as an introduction for those taking part in the second element of the project, the soundwalk.'

Matthew will be assisted in his creation of the accompanying soundwalk by Year 5 pupils from local Nields Junior, Infant and Nursery School. Working with parabolic listening and recording devices Matthew will first introduce the participants to ear-cleaning exercises (!) before working together to construct and document soundwalks of the area.

You can read Matthew's blog for further updates on Colne Valley Listeners here: http://apps.matthewsansom.info/Blog/

Matthew previously appeared at HCMF in 2007 with his sound installation Heard Here, a collection of site-specific audio treatments for mp3-player strongly connected with the auditory culture of Huddersfield. For more information about Sansom's work see http://www.matthewsansom.info

Colne Valley Listeners is part of the River Colne Sculpture Trail, an initiative to create a dynamic and varied sculpture trail in the Colne Valley, which aims to reflect the valley's environmental diversity and its transformation from the industrial to the digital age. For further information on the other commissions on the trail, please see http://www.rivercolnesculpturetrail.org.uk. The commission has been funded by an anonymous donor and Arts Council England, Yorkshire.