Organ of Corti

There is an installation outside St. Paul’s Cathedral as part of the City of London Festival. Here is the opening statement:

“Organ of Corti is an experimental instrument that recycles noise from the environment…”

Excellent. I’m there.

And so I went. I’d checked the website first, watched the footage, got the GPS coordinates. I felt prepared. Yet, somehow I wasn’t prepared when I arrived. There were obviously first the ubiquitous tourists, clambering for a photo-op, to fight through. But as I stepped into the tubular structure I felt a little underwhelmed. Perhaps I should have absorbed the rest of the opening paragraph:

“…It does not make any sound of its own, but rather it attempts to draw our attention to the sounds already present by framing them in a new way.”

This wasn’t so much a musical instrument, but more a tool to help engage with the local soundscape. So I stepped back, thought about what I should be trying to experience, and tried again. As promised, the filtering system by which the sonic crystals of the tubes function, provided a mellifluous perspective on the ongoing traffic. It was subtle, yes, but nevertheless present. A large part of the aural experience is the isolation within the structure from the pavement outside, and it does facilitate a deeper examination of the sounds in our environment.

I’d be interested to hear how the installation works in other locations. It’s here in London until July 7^th, then on the road to the Lake District, Cotswolds and finally Worcester. If any readers out there are taking part, let me know what you find…