PARALLEL TEXTURES

a sound installation by IRIS GARRELFS
Saturday 14th September 2002
Berkshire Record Office 11.00 a.m - 3.00 p.m

The work playing in the office space at Berkshire Record Office has been made especially by sound artist Iris Garrelfs for Heritage Open Weekend.

For Parallel Textures the Iris Garrelfs has interpreted historical documents found at Berkshire Record Office into an audio composition. Different types of computer software have been used to shape the work, for example Metasyth software, that transposes visual material into sound.
Documents used in the piece include a microfilm of a 18th century parish register, an etching of Jane Austen who was at school in Reading, a photograph of the oldest map of Reading, as well as letters written by Reading citizens who emigrated to America and Australia. The artist has also incorporated recordings discovered in the sound archives at The Museum of Reading, such as a song recorded for Huntley and Palmers biscuits and the sound of steam engines – both reflecting key aspects of Reading’s historic industries.
The work is made in 4 parts and is played across pairs of speakers. Each strand or "thread" of the composition wanders from one speaker to another. Visitors are invited to wander through the space and interact with the work, absorbing the sounds as they pass through and take a look at the objects provided.
Parallel Textures is an abstract composition, a conflation of the past and the present, a tapestry in sound. The artist has described the work as, "a continuous drama of interaction, sweetness and disaster that weaves through space and time."

play a stereo sound extract 1.29min / 1.3MB

The work has been commissioned by Art at the Centre, Reading and presented in association with Berkshire Record Office and Heritage Open Weekend.