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A production team made up of Abby Boswell, Amy Smith, Somi Umolu and Helen Maduka from Raw Canvas and freelance producer Hannah Andrassy worked together to create a sound tour of Tate Modern’s new Collection Displays.
Amy from Raw Canvas commented, ‘I think the important thing for me was to bring some of the outside world in to the gallery so that you could hear a variety of opinions or responses, which maybe you wouldn’t expect in a gallery setting, or to encourage viewing art in the context of the outside world with everyday references rather than being contained in a building.’
Over eight months the production team reduced the number of artworks from 800 to 16. They had to find answers to many questions about how the tour would work: should it have a voiceover, will all the works be on display when listeners take the tour, should the listener be able to walk around the galleries looking at the works sequentially, or should it be a fluid sound-scape that listeners experience as a kind of uninterrupted stream of consciousness? They looked at plans of how the galleries were going to be arranged so they could create a flow, and they talked to Curators before making a list of people who would contribute to the tracks.
Contributors were asked to respond to each of the works chosen by the Raw Canvas team. Some people were asked how the work made them feel, while others were asked to discuss the connection between the piece and their own lives. Also, while some participants were asked to respond critically, others simply described what they saw. The range of the people interviewed is broad – from primary school children to a young mums’ group to a theatre group for actors aged 50+. This provides a wide variety of perspectives for the listener, and it also leaves a space for the listener’s opinions. The tour is about providing a platform for many different opinions.
The tour offers a combination of interviews, sound and music that invite the viewer to look at artworks in different ways. We wanted to create an audio tour that could be used as much in the gallery as at home, school or anywhere. We hope that the tour can add something to the listener’s awareness of the gallery and artworks, and that it will provide a positive, thought-provoking experience.
