Chris Watson has been announced by Paul Stolper Gallery in London as the sixth artist in the ongoing series 'The Silence Between' which is a joint venture with composer Adrian Corker.

Chris is noted for his field recordings of animals, habitats and atmospheres from around the world and, in a previous life, was a member of Cabaret Voltaire.

The exhibition runs from 26-31 March 2014 at Paul Stolper, Museum St, London.

Extending over 2,000 km down the Atlantic coast of West and South Africa the Namib desert is an ancient and unique landscape; a vast and mobile ocean of sand where humans mostly fear to tread.

'Namib' is a multi channel composition created from location recordings made over the last eight years from the Skelton coast to remote interior dunes.The piece reflects a timescale beyond our reckoning as it aims to compress 50 million years of evolution into a 20 minute surround soundscape.

'Namib' will trace the sound shift created by a dense Atlantic fog bank as it swirls inland before sunrise and transforms the acoustics around the huge sandstone outcrops along the bone dry banks of the Kuiseb river. This event brings moisture and life to the flora and fauna whilst the reduced visibility allows the listener to tune into one of the few spaces left on our planet not smeared with noise pollution.

The Namib is a place to listen back in time, above and below the surface. The piece reveals the deep rhythms and sound of an evolving sand dune, from individual grains to moving mountain as it creeps in advance of the prevailing winds. After dark, the dunes, cliffs and valleys are patrolled by an emerging alien empire. Insects vibrate and sing into the night air - a vital and dangerous practice as advertising for a mate also sends signals to the acute auditory senses of predators, large and small, that stalk amongst the stillness of the sands.

'Namib' is on display from 25 to 30 March at Paul Stolper Gallery, Monday to Saturday 10-6pm.

More info at chriswatson.net and Chris Watson's Twitter.

Labels: art, Cabaret_Voltaire, Chris_Watson

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