Beacon 2007

Beacon is an interactive sound and light installation commissioned by South Norfolk Council through Commissions East as part of the Contemporary Arts Norwich and as part of the 900th anniversary celebrations for Wymondham Abbey and ran for ten weeks through the summer of 2007.

The work is a reaction to the idea of the tower as a beacon in the landscape visible for some distance and also the intimate acoustics of the internal space. The relationship between the sound and the light has a transforming quality that animates the usually tranquil place.

Beacon is collaboration with John Hardy Music, who created a two-hour sound piece that plays inside the tower each evening. Three banks of coloured lights react to both the volume and frequency of the sound to illuminate the tower in a mixture of blue, purple and magenta. The sound piece has no rhythm or melody but is made up of the human voice, bells and organ sounds, which drift in and out of focus as they overlap and occasionally collide.

A microphone has also been incorporated into the piece so that singers and musicians have an opportunity to interact with the tower bringing it to life with their own voices.