Nine Lives
What was the challenge?
January 2021 felt like the beginning of a period of global change. In the depths of winter and another lockdown, the development of a Covid vaccination had instilled a cautious hope that things might start to return to ‘normal’ soon. But is ‘normal’?
The Barbican programming team commissioned us to create a new, abstract piece of work that would revisit the themes of loss and identity we examined in Unclaimed - a 2019 installation at Barbican exploring our societal obsession with ageing- but through a new lens of ‘emergence’. We wanted to create something that would consider how our relationships and aspirations have been affected by the whirlwind of 2020, and how, as humans, we often emerge from cataclysmic and life changing events with new ideas and pathways that continue to resonate with future generations.
What did we do?
We searched the globe to find people with a unique story or pivotal experience that they wanted to share with us. We conducted virtual interviews, narrowing the selection down to the experiences that aligned most closely with the theme of emergence, zooming in on the networks and systems in each narrative that might somehow connect them all together.
The result? A collection of abstract audio portraits following the lives of nine strangers as they try to make sense of the world around them. From the depths of the Indian ocean to London’s subterranean networks, from a NASA scientist reimagining life on earth to a couple struggling with the aftermath of a prison sentence, Nine Lives uses experimental field recordings and original musical compositions to illustrate each portrait, weaving the narratives loosely together to form a wider picture of emergence and human life.
Abstract visuals accompany each portrait on the Barbican website, inspired by natural and synthetic elements that portray the different tones of each and animated to create an imaginative visual dynamic that follows the narrative arcs.
What has the impact been?
Nine Lives was launched on the Barbican’s website in December 2021, creating a unique snapshot of a once in a lifetime moment.
COLLABORATORS
Audio: Jo Barratt
Music composed by: Phil Smith
Motion Graphics: Plan B
With thanks to our interviewees:
Paul Cowan, Norma Gordon, Jade Williams-Gill, Martin O’Brien, Divya Karnad, Lucianne Walkowicz, Lisa Selby, Elliot Murawski, Daniel Thorson, Elaine Wong.