Sound Design in dialogue with the Expanding Horizons Exhibition

The musical accompaniment to this exhibition is inspired by the sounds of East Asian heritage instruments which aim to mirror the form and structure of the East Asian artworks. Musicians from Japan, China, and Korea together with colleagues from the UK, Austria and America connected with the artworks which spoke to them directly. Profoundly moved by the artists’ statements, their response is also a unique personal journey, reflecting upon the difficulties of the past and the challenges of the present. The fragility of glass, its transience, together with its enduring resilience and hidden strength.

As the artist fuses the fluidity of glass through fire and emotion into art, the musician by way of their instrument visualises and responds in dialogue, weaving a ‘thread’ of sound. Each musician’s response is separated by silence. The silences are the ‘hidden harmony’ linking that which is visible and that which is heard.

Each response is an initial revelatory moment of discovery, as the visitor encounters the artwork for the first time, leaving the cares and concerns of the present behind. As we become absorbed and released by light, within the medium of glass, and by its tension and flow, we release ourselves into the glass.

In gratitude to all the artists in the Expanding Horizons exhibition this is our response.

Sound Design by David Aldred