The Exeter Sound Context involved three works and was undertaken by BASCA award winning sound artist Ed Baxter (Resonance Radio Orchestra, Japanorama, Turntable Hell, Feedback: Order from Noise), with Michael Umney. The commission aimed to draw on the available cultural resources of Exeter and the University’s multiple campuses using radio as a filter, a portal and a space for creative and artistic expression in its own right. Working with schools, academics and creatives around Exeter, Baxter has produced a set of works that examining and connecting the cultural infrastructure of the University and the city around it.

The Exeter Whisper

An original text by Michael Rosen was whispered down a very long line of Exeter children. The fun really starts as his words get mangled as we go down the line. Described as 'mesmerising' by the Observer. Listen to the work here.

A Shot in the Dark

A Shot in the Dark was conceived by Ed Baxter and arranged in collaboration with Emma Welton

In total darkness, diverse groups of musicians – drawn from Exeter's classical, jazz, folk, noise and student ensembles - interpret a musical score burned into their retinas via a series of digital flashguns. Their eyes shut, the score at first seems clear enough, allowing for deeply musical coherence. But as the afterimage decays, the sounds threaten to dissolve into din. Gradually the unseen instrumentation becomes clear and patterns form, only to fragment when some new and unexpected performer enters the acousmatic picture. You can listen to the work here.

Speed Reading Symposium

The Speed Reading Symposium brought together academics, artists and creatives from across the city; each presenting a single idea in a limited five minute presentation. The presentations each strove to address in some way the themes of transmission, transference and translation. As the symposium unfolded the connections and themes emerged fitfully offering, it is hoped, a snapshot of contemporary thinking in which the whole was much greater than the parts. Listen here.