Attaching audio speakers we are...
Live art
Sky Orchestra
The Sky Orchestra is an ongoing research project that explores how one can perceive an artistic experience in sleep space. It is an experimental artwork bringing together performance and music to create visual audio installations within the air and within the mind.
The Performance
Sky Orchestra are developing music specifically for sleeping people which is delivered out of the sky. Seven hot air balloons, each with speakers attached, take off at dawn to fly across a city. Each balloon plays a different element of the musical score creating a massive audio landscape.
"Like whales calling in the ocean, the same sounds may be heard in succession passing from one balloon to another across the sky..."
Many thousands of people experience the Sky Orchestra event live as the balloons fly over their homes at dawn. The airborne project is both a vast spectacular performance as well as an intimate, personal experience. Through the use of surround sound, we aim to deliver a sculptural experience to the public, by lifting them into the creative space on the edge of sleep and then acoustically seeding their imaginations.
A form of provocative acoustic urban art, Sky Orchestra questions the boundaries of public artwork, private space and the ownership of the sky. Sky Orchestra is an artwork specifically designed to reach a broader audience than that visiting a gallery. Photos above are by ©Trent O'Donnell, ©Keystone, ©Thierry Grobet, and ©John McQueen.
New film by Edward Tucker
More films & Slide Show
Watch great slide show of images from our Sydney Festival performances.
Sleep Research
To study the affects of sound upon sleep, scientific research has been carried out, Dream Concerts have been held and a Dream Director machine has been built and tested at UWE.
Collaborators
The Sky Orchestra is a collaborative project by individuals from far reaching disciplines. Luke Jerram is working with composer Dan Jones. For each performance they work with local arts companies and hot air balloon pilots.
Dan Jones has produced 14 separate tracks of music for this innovative experimental art project. Some of the best musicians from around the UK have been recorded for this production. Among them Daniel Newell on Trumpet, Katherine Baker on Piccolo, Philip Harmer on Oboe and Cor Anglais. The extraordinary Japanese musician Joji Hirota was also commissioned to play Japanese flute and percussion. Samples of this first composition can be heard here...
01___track_1
02___track_2_b
03___track_3_y
In 2006 the RSC commissioned a second compositon for the Complete Works Festival which contains sleep related Shakespeare, spoken by Patrick Stewart and Janet Suzman. Here are some samples of this work.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for a composer and sound designer. The entire scenario is itself dreamlike; a literally unearthly experience that I hope will leave people feeling inspired. This is music released from the confines of gravity." adds Dan.
Media Coverage
Sky Orchestra attracts a great deal of media coverage and has been used as a launch event for art festivals around the world. In the UK alone, over 10.1million people heard about our performance in 2006 through press coverage. BBC News footage was then distributed to TV channels around the world. See audience stats. Each performance makes news around the world. Performances have been reported as far afield as India and Vietnam.
BBC1 National Television News 2006
Wired Magazine 2006
The Telegraph report of RSC performance 2006
Today Programme Radio4 2006
The Sun double page spread 2006
After each performance flyers and posters are delivered to homes and shops along the flight path and responses collected by email. See this BBC website set up for public feedback.
The feedback together with findings from Dream Concerts and the Dream Director, effect the on-going development of the composition.
