For five days this August, ‘Sound Horn’ – the creation of local artist Katie J Anderson – comes to Barwhillanty Estate near Parton. The installations combine to make an immersive artistic experience quite unlike anything else, re-imagining the space it inhabits, exploring the effect of a created soundscape on our experience of place.
Event runs 24th-28th August, 11am – 3pm daily
Sound Horn is a cluster of six outdoor copper and aluminium sound sculptures inspired by gramophone speakers. Visitors can wander around the woodland at Barwhillanty Estate above Parton to experience this immersive sculptural and sound installation, considering and acknowledging the existing sounds of our everyday spaces. Each of the six emits one part of a field-recorded composition that artist Katie Anderson made during a Cryptic Cove Park Residency as well as work created in workshop in New Galloway and Parton in July with youth and adult participants locally.
From choral notes, spoken word parts and a bassline hum, visitors can listen to each element in isolation before they combine into one deeply resonant whole sounding from all six speakers at once. This creates a poignant musical promenade through a series of magical soundscapes. The serene, 12-minute sound loop has been described by visitors as “calming, beautiful [and] made me want to stay for ages in the garden and just listen.”
For this installation Katie created a soundscape from within the estate with the support of local artists Lucy Smith and Sarah Jane Scouten. To see the Horns in action at a previous site, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDMANPOFftc.
The Sound Horn installation will be hosted at Barwhillanty Estate, near Parton, from 24th-28th of August, open from 11-3pm daily.
The Sound Horn opening hours on Saturday 28th aligns with Barwhillanty Estate’s Wellbeing Day. This is a one-off opportunity to explore the wider, magnificent gardens combined with yoga sessions held on the main lawn and the chance to indulge in their artisan pizza in the idyllic Walled Garden. Yoga sessions will be 30 minutes, held at 11am and 3:30pm. Be sure to book your place and don’t miss out on a slice of wood-fired pizza!
Maria Yerburgh, from Barwhillanty Estate, said:
“It is wonderful to be featuring Katie’s Sound Horns here at Barwhillanty, bringing our garden to life and tying in perfectly with our wellbeing day where yoga meets the outdoors as we invite you to embrace the tranquility and serenity of the gardens. We are excited about offering a slice of pizza from our Walled Garden wood-fired pizza oven whilst soaking up the floral beauty in this enchanting space.”
In light of ongoing national guidance, booking is essential. To book your ticket for a visit of the Sound Horns between 11-3pm on 24-28th August, click here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/catstrand/sound-horn/e-yydbko. While bookings are being taken for 11-3pm each day, at 2pm daily, the artist will be giving a talk about the design of the piece.
More information about the Barwhillanty Estate Wellbeing Day on 28th is here: https://www.barwhillantyestate.co.uk/events/barwhillanty-gardens-open-day/
The Sound Horn installation is being co-ordinated by Glenkens Community & Arts Trust (GCAT). GCAT’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Manager, Aidan Nicol, added:
We are delighted to be showcasing Katie’s work in the region and the woodland at Barwhillanty is a magical setting to see this come to life, it was especially nice to be able to commission Katie to create a sound piece from found sound in the woods that will be played through the horns during the installation. This is the first visual art installation project we have taken on as part of our GCAT programme and we’re delighted to be placing this in a different area of the Glenkens for people to explore and enjoy.
The Sound Horn Event was organised by the Glenkens Community & Arts Trust, with the support of the Loch Ken Trust. The event was made possible through support by the Galloway Glens Scheme (using funds from the National Lottery Heritage Fund) and Creative Scotland.
