North Greenwich by Armed With Bow

North Greenwich is a sound-piece commissioned by the Creative Society as part of their Creative Rewilding project. The stimulus for the work was a guided walk with Saira Saira Niazi across the Greenwich peninsula, starting at North Greenwich Station at ending at the Thames Barrier.

As a landscape suspended between a state of toxic post-industrial abandonment and the large-scale corporate regeneration first ushered in by the Millennium Dome project, North Greenwich is a place of stark contrasts.

The windswept river loomed over the entire walk, dominating the landscape with its history of economic power as much as its physical presence. These conditions drew my sound recordings close to the shingle-strewn ground, the water and industrial perimeter fences. A surprise reprieve in a bird sanctuary woodland brought a powerful moment of calm.

After the walk, as I digested the sounds had gathered into an audio collage, I found myself in a youtube vortex of the bizarre y2k Millennium Dome spectacle, re-experiencing my trip there as an 8 year old through clips of random home videos and archived interviews/propaganda. This heady dose of millennial nostalgia found a polar reflection in the memories and reflections of a long-time member of the very working class Greenwich Yacht Club who I encountered on the walk.

I approached the final stage of creating the music as a response and enhancement of the sound journey I had created, scoring the unseen drama of the reimagined landscape.

Many thanks to Saira, for leading us on and inspiring walk and sharing so many wonderful stories, and Kitty and the Creative Society for making it happen.

✶

⋕ techno druid
° gardener of sounds
☠ egregore hunter
≈ wave of waves
...∴..∴. `\~}