Passers by become participants on the South Bank

PLAY.orchestra is a new Central Saint Martins MA Narrative Environments project for London’s South Bank Centre, which launches this Saturday 19 August, with a special event from 11am to 1pm. Taking place on the Riverside Terrace next to the Jubilee Bridge, it is the biggest
and most ambitious outdoor interactive installation
of the Royal Festival Hall. This project is in collaboration with the Philharmonia Orchestra, who wanted to promote their website’s Sound Exchange project — where the public can download sounds of the orchestra or upload their own. Using wireless technology, the installation provides a real life experience for the Sound Exchange to take place
in the most playful and meaningful way.

PLAY.orchestra recreates an empty orchestra pit
of 60 seats. Passers-by can take the stage and experience a musical piece from the player’s perspective. By taking
a seat, the public triggers a recording of the musical instrument related to that particular place. As more people sit down, the piece is progressively revealed.
They can further engage with the piece through their mobile phones, by receiving ringtones of the experience they just created, or sending their own sounds. These will then
be part of a new composition to take place within the installation, for other passers-by to discover.

The project features different musical pieces,
some of them especially composed for the installation, allowing commuters to live a different experience every time. It is also supported with live event every Saturday, where composers, musicians and animateurs give
guided tours and perform live with the installation.


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PLAY.orchestra
Open 24/7, from 19 August to 2 October 2006
Royal Festival Hall, Riverside Terrace, London

Created by:
Arlete Castelo, Dan Harris, Melissa Mongiat, Charlie Ward,
Rakhi Rajani, Hannah Lewis, Satoko Onisi, Suki Beg
from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
MA Narrative Environments, in collaboration
with the South Bank Centre and Philharmonia Orchestra


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Editor’s notes:

MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments is a new postgraduate programme at, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design University of the Arts London.
The course pioneers collaborative practice among designers, curators, writers and project managers. Students work in multidisciplinary teams to create and develop proposals and solutions for cultural venues, visitor centres, exhibitions, museums, historic sites, entertainment venues, sports events, shopping experiences, corporate events, product launches, urban and community environments.
http://www.narrative-environments.com


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Press cuts

Time Out magazine, 16-23 Aug 2006 n.1878
Metro, 18 Aug 2006
BBC Radio 4 Today, 18 Aug 2006 08:56
BBC News, 18 Aug 2006
Flavorpill LDN, 18 Aug 2006
Daily Telegraph, 19 Aug 2006
Pixelsumo, 20 Aug 2006 21:34
Rhizome, 20 Aug 2006
networked_performance, 21 Aug 2006
Bloomberg, 22 Aug 2006 00:40
Pixelsurgeon, 22 Aug 2006 08:45
HMC Media Lab, 22 Aug 2006
Makezine, 22 Aug 2006 02:15
Ringtonia, 22 Aug 2006
BD4D By Designers for Designers Newsfeed, 24 Aug 2006
Time Out, 13-20 September 2006 > "THE BEST FREE FUN IN LONDON"