The Unsettlement
Two Sound Walks for Frome
3 May 2024
Two new sound-based artworks for Frome. The project is supported by Frome Town Council and Black Swan Arts Centre. With thanks to Jo Plimmer for production support.
‘Fair | Fine | Brisk’ by Claire Carroll
Imagine a town. Imagine the countryside This isn’t a story. This is a story
A meditative audio artwork that blends sound and poetry, tracing part of the route of the River Frome. The piece invites the listener to consider the sensory experience of their surroundings, whether they are local residents, visitors, or just passing through. This sound walk is a blend of spoken poetry, written and read by Claire Carroll, interwoven with a soundtrack created by musician and poet, Andrew Hykel Mears.
Claire Carroll is a writer, editor and PhD researcher based in Frome, whose research explores how experimental writing – particularly short stories and prose poetry – can reimagine how humans relate to the natural and non-human world. Her short story collection ‘The Unreliable Nature Writer’ is due for release by Scratch Books in June 2024.
Instructions: Start at the Black Swan Arts Centre entrance on Justice Lane. You can also listen at home, or sitting still anywhere near the river. Running time: Approx 20 minutes.
Weeds are Community by Lúcia Harley
@lucia.harley8
Music Watch Paint Dry
https://watchpaintdry.bandcamp.com
Narrator Cecily Claire Murray
Sound engineer Tom Kemp
This sound-based artwork is an invitation to look closer at the organic fabric around us through weeds: plants you might overlook every day as they seek sanctuary in walls, reach up from drains and push through cracks in the pavement.
Take a stroll through the town’s streets reimagining these small but determined life forces that exist in tandem with the human spirit.
Lúcia Harley is an artist based in Somerset who creates sculptural interventions and performance.
Her work explores the boundaries between inner and outer worlds, our relationship with each other and the environment that surrounds us.
This sound work has been developed from Weeds are Community, a performative walk around Frome and an exhibition at Black Swan Arts, created by Lúcia Harley, in collaboration with Claire Beale 2022.
Instructions: Start at St John’s church. Walk down the path to its right Stop by the iron gates on your left. Spot the birds feeding their young. Then, press play by clicking the links below to hear each part of the soundwalk.
2. Click here to download the War Graves Sound Walk file
Sensitive Content
Church Walk
Bird sounds: Eduardo Verderame @eduardo_verderame
Come and gone: Claire Beale/Lúcia Harley
Penny whistle: Richard Blaker
War graves
Speaking about Malaya: John Wickham, (Jack)
Sensitive Content
The Graffiti Wall
Penny whistle: Richard Blaker
Dandelion names: Claire Beale
8 children and 27 grand and great grandchildren:
Colleen Brixey/Lúcia Harley
Kingsway
Selwood Bounds: Frome Morris side, est. 2023
Cider with Rosie, (first paragraph) Laurie Lee, 1959. Read by Cecily Claire Murry
Bird song extracts: Lost soundscapes: English Meadow 1901
The Grills
Ganesha mantra: Kommu Mahesh Sharma, Frome
Cheap Street
Two Halves, 2023
Poem written and performed by Simona Ciocarlan
in English and Romanian. Produced by Lúcia Harley.
Market Place
Druid: Lynn Rawlins Rawlinson
