Seeking to unfold a new experience within Space and Place

Dan Wilkinson

Exploring our relationship with place and technology, the new Manifold exhibition brings together 5 artists who investigate it in different ways. Combining both sonic and visual aspects of technology together inside the architecture of the Pyramid building, it brings an exciting collaborative mix of the old and new.

Matthew Birchall, Tao Burnley, Tracy Hill, Magda Stawarska-Beavan and Dan Wilkinson make up

the team behind this exhibition. Reminding me of the digital technology show ‘Right Here Right Now’ which took place at The Lowry earlier this year, it drew our attention towards place and encouraged new technological ways of interacting and seeing the world we live in. The main third floor installation by Dan Wilkinson is similar in scope to Fuse’s ‘SnowFall’ application allowing the viewer to become part of the image. Wilkinson’s work uses sonic mapping technology where the people entering its fold can explore the hemispheric speakers dotted in the area and listen to sounds that has been collected and re-mapped for this specific installation. It feels as though the sound and light gestures towards my movement around the room, which does make me consider my path and where I might go next.

The building-centric installation by Matthew Birchall and Tao Lashley-Burnley is part of an ongoing research project to explore the capabilities of projection mapping as an artistic tool. I notice that there are small cameras or listening equipment up in the corners of the Atrium walls as their work attempts to understand how structures influence our movements and the decisions we make with the space.

Magda Stawarska-Beavan

Magda Stawarska-Beavan’s work is another Soundscape piece focusing on retelling the experience of a location from different listener viewpoints, therefore building new sound narratives. Interestingly, this works well alongside Tracy Hill’s work which explores ideas based around the traditional understanding of place through walking. Her piece ‘You Are Here’ is a written description of places no longer here through the presentation of vinyl decals. It allows visitors to view these words whilst looking through the main window towards the urban landscape of Warrington.

Together, Manifold offers a picture of how to experience place, the buildings we inhabit and regularly take for granted. Perhaps through this continued exploration and by new, innovative means we can better understand how to utilise space through all our senses.