Current Students and Staff

// University News

Pictured is Xana. Image courtesy of Alison Ballard.

17 Jul 2018

Radar artists captured sounds of the town

Two artists have used creative methods to capture the different sounds of Loughborough as part of a project that explores how music makes place and place makes music.

Musician, artist and educator Rebecca Lee and sound artist Xana have hosted events in and around town as part of (re)composition – an ambitious programme of musical, artistic and geographic exploration that looks at music’s ability to transport listeners to new worlds.

(re)composition was commissioned by Radar – Loughborough University’s contemporary art commissioning programme – and it draws on the research of Dr Allan Watson, of the University’s Department of Geography and from across the Social Sciences

Last month, Rebecca Lee hosted ‘Making it up: this moment of June’ at the University and Xana headed to the town centre for ‘Disturbing Space’.

Rebecca’s event saw an ensemble of Loughborough musicians use improvisation to explore how listening might become central to the work of the performers as well as the audience.

 Pictured are musicians at Rebecca Lee'd ‘Making it up: this moment of June'. Image courtesy of Alison Ballard.

Main image and photo above courtesy of Alison Lloyd.

Xana travelled around Loughborough on a custom bicycle fitted with digital broadcasting equipment and a sound system; passers-by met with the station and contributed to the broadcast. 

Radar Producer Laura Purseglove commented: “The two events were a great success. Rebecca's performance and recording session drew a receptive audience who listened attentively to the ensemble of musicians and Xana's participatory performance drew curiosity from a wide range of people.”

The third artist contributing to (re)composition, Sam Belinfante, has been working with the Carillon Tower to create an audio-visual installation. He will present his work in the landmark when it reopens later this year.  

For more information on the (re)composition artists and their projects, visit the Radar website.

Rebecca Lee’s improvisation session was recorded and is to be played on campus and in Loughborough (times and locations to be confirmed).