ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY

The National Portait Gallery

An electro-mechanical wearable instrument created for a live performance at the National Portrait Gallery

commission

Atmospheric Railway was commissioned by Martyn Ware for a Late Shift performance at the National Portrait Gallery.

Performance

Di and engineer Adam Stark created a wearable electro‐mechanical instrument entitled Atmospheric Railway. The device was inspired by a portrait of 19th Century civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and his failed ‘Atmospheric Railway’ project, which they felt conjured up a contrast of heavy industry versus otherworldly magic. This device creates atmospheric soundscapes, activated by the journey of traveling ball bearings through a system of tubes. The bearings ricocheted off bells, causing them to chime. The resulting sounds are harvested via microphones and fed back into the room as a series of atmospheric echoes.

Tour

2011 National Portrait Gallery

partners

National Portrait Gallery

Full credits below

Category

Film · Musical Instruments · Performances · Wearables

The National Portrait Gallery’s wig-heavy halls also provided a great space for happy discoveries like The Atmospheric Railway, a dance act involving the wearable instrumental creation of Di Mainstone and Adam Stark. Curious, interactively noisy and compelling, it was exactly the right thing to stumble upon around one of the many corners on the first floor.

Arts Desk