BE OPEN Starts a New Experimental Phase for the Sound Portal With University of the Arts London

BE OPEN Starts a New Experimental Phase for the Sound Portal With University of the Arts London

LONDON, February 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



Launching within the framework of BE OPEN: Inside the Academy, which is the
educational platform set up by the think tank, the project is part of a broader aim to
explore the five traditional senses with the goal of discovering how to trigger the
elusive sixth sense, or intuition. The foundation is committed to developing this concept
through innovative projects that create the ultimate synthesis of the sensory and
technology.



Following its highly successful public unveiling in Trafalgar Square, as a landmark
event at the 2012 London Design Festival, the BE OPEN Sound Portal will now be the focus
for an inter-college project with University of the Arts London, running April to June
2013.



The Portal (designed by Arup) will be installed in the Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground
at Chelsea College of Art and Design where the College, alongside Central Saint Martins
College of Arts and Design and London College of Communication, will use it to explore the
unique ambisonic sound space, in three quite different ways. The colleges will begin their
individual programmes with a lecture and master-class series from April which will
culminate in a symposium - Sounding Space, at the start of June.



'Sound as Measure' led by Chelsea College of Art and Design, sees students
experimenting with sound as an integral element of interior and spatial design. The Portal
will become the focus of a spectacular external light and soundscape designed to
counterpoint to the sound world inside the Portal.



Central Saint Martins 'Nomad Lab' looks at the creative potential of working,
'nomadically' across different artistic disciplines. Here the Portal will become a
conceptual, as well as a physical space. A mixed-discipline postgraduate group will create
trans-disciplinary sound works. They will also participate in practical sessions covering
areas such as data-sonification, audio programming, multi-channel sound and physical
computing. The project will involve two student-based commissions and one artist
commission.



'Sound, Place, Memory', led by London College of Communication, will comprise
workshops and themed talks with contributors drawn from the worlds of acoustic
archaeology, sensory geography and anthropology, generating three student compositions and
two artist compositions.



The tri-partite sound project will link to 'Resonance FM' to create a life for the
project outside the academic realm.



Dean of Chelsea College of Art and Design, George Blacklock, said: "We are proud to be
hosting BE OPEN's Sound Portal here at Chelsea. BE OPEN's support gives our students at
UAL a unique opportunity to explore the possibilities of working artistically and
creatively in an ambisonic sound environment, which they would not have otherwise."



BE OPEN's Founder, Elena Baturina, said: "I am pleased that BE OPEN's conceptual
project continues to evolve, furthering intellectual development. Supporting practical
studies, research and sound design with these three world-renowned art colleges underlines
BE OPEN's commitment to exploring the possibilities of sound and the sensory journey."



Notes to Editors



The BE OPEN Foundation aims to harness the brainpower of creative leaders through a
system of conferences, competitions, exhibitions, master classes, cultural and art events.
The BE OPEN Sound Portal was a landmark project for the 2012 London Design Festival,
created in collaboration with ARUP and Sound and Music. An immersive space that focused on
the idea of 'design you can't see', it was sited in Trafalgar Square from 19-23 September
2012.




For press information:
Theresa Simon & Partners, London
Wendy Brierley, wendy@theresasimon.com
Theresa Simon, theresa@theresasimon.com
+44-207-734-4800


BE OPEN


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