Overview
The Hum is a reflection and meditation on our own everyday interactions with the city.
Half cinema, half reality, the piece weaves together visuals of your location with a specially composed soundtrack on your smartphone.
How to Experience the Work
Audiences can experience The Hum by downloading the free app here, plugging in a pair of headphones and following the trail on their screen. The piece is cross platform and simple to use.
As the app is site-specific you wouldn’t normally be able to hear the soundtracks unless you were at the respective locations; however we have embedded the audio below for you to listen to together with images of their surrounding environments. (scroll down to find the audio tracks)
Further Details
Forming a series of acute observations on how we live and interact with the urban environment, The Hum incorporates text from four diverse artists including: international dance artist Wendy Houston, dance writer for The Times Donald Hutera, Maria Oshodi director of Extant Theatre Company of visually impaired people and live artist Pete Phillips. These writers explore the subtle qualities of observed and experienced movement to create their own idiosyncratic narratives ranging from the poetic and humorous through to the ironic and subversive.
Re-visiting the mundane activities of our everyday lives, The Hum questions and elevates these inadvertent acts of choreography to the status of a feature film. At times profound yet often personal it is an immersive work that reveals an alternative view of the city through movements that take place within it.
In the Hum there are no performers and no stage just real life, framed as an unusual and surprising performance.
Feedback
So far the up has been used over 3,000 times (Brighton Festival 2017) with 784 downloads. Here are a selection of public comments gathered through the App’s feedback tab:
An immersive reflection on the significance of every moment and action in our lives. Beautifully put together, thank you.
A true depiction of GB today! Thought provoking. Scary.
Lovely way to explore and see the city in a different way. Would be great to have this kind of thing throughout the year!
Rather than going into the shop I stood at a nearby bus stop & pressed play-which was lovely as there were 2 crossings to watch. So there was more dance! And it kept me amused til my bus came.
I liked how you could pick up various location in your own time- it can be done at your leisure.
I fell in love with the Hum…really moving and eye opening to the actions of everyday people.
Awesome experience.
Soundtracks
Escalators text Nic Sandiland
Photo Me Booth text Pete Philips
Concourse text Wendy Houston
Jubilee Square text Wendy Houston
Laundrette text Donald Hutera
Automatic Doors 1 text Pete Philips
Pedestrian Crossing text Wendy Houston
(viewed through Waterstones’ windows from above)
Automatic Doors 2 text Donald Hutera
Sci-Fi Section text Nic Sandiland
Toilets text Maria Oshodi
Elevator text Nic Sandiland
Pedestrian Crossing 2 text Maria Oshodi
Countdown text Maria Oshodi
Cashpoint text Pete Philips
Arcade text Donald Hutera
Credits
Direction & Design: Nic Sandiland
Writers: Wendy Houston, Donald Hutera, Maria Oshodi, Pete Philips, Nic Sandiland
Readers: Amy Lyster, Jodie Hawkes, Alonna Flexer, Caroline Hume, Donald Hutera, Robert Kingsley, Pete Philips
Music: James Keane
Additional Soundscore: Nic Sandiland
Coder: DabApps
Supported by Arts Council England, South East Dance,
Commissioned by Brighton Festival