21-30 January 2022
Fabrica, 40 Duke St, Brighton
PASO (2022)
A SPATIAL SOUND MEMORIAL TO AN EXTINCT MIGRATION ROUTE
Lighthouse in partnership with Fabrica presents Alberto Ruiz Soler and William Fairbrother’s new immersive spatial sound composition and sensory sculpture, Paso.
Paso is a memorial to an extinct migration route: the chalk land bridge that once connected Britain to Europe and all the animal migrants (including three species of early humans) that crossed it before its collapse due to climate change 450,000 years ago.
You are invited to take off your shoes, put on a pair of wireless headphones and explore the sound composition by walking barefoot across an expansive tactile floor sculpture. Visitors will experience varying levels of temperature throughout the experience referencing the ‘seasonal’ nature of ice ages and changing sea levels that surrounded the bridge throughout its lifetime.
Paso is intended to be a passing place that celebrates freedom of movement; it is free to visit and open to all, and offers a space to consider the topic of migration from a less human-centred perspective. Paso serves as a reminder of the many animal (including human) migration routes that are in jeopardy at the moment and into the future due to the accelerating effect of human decision-making and behaviours around the world.
The artists would also like to thank Sanjeev Gupta, leading expert on the landbridge for his collaboration.
Opens Friday 21 January 2022, last day – Sunday 30 January 2022.
Free, advanced booking and limited walk-ins are available.
Visitor Information & Accessibility
- Accessibility is very important to us, and we want everyone to feel welcome.
- Please download our Detailed Guide to Audience Experience, intended for anyone with access needs or who would feel more comfortable knowing a little more about the experience before attending.
- Plan your visit with our Visitor Guidelines.
- The artists have designed this exhibition as a barefoot experience. If audience members have special requirements, disposable shoes and/or foot coverings are available on site.
- The exhibition is a friendly space, designed for blind, visually-impaired and sighted visitors alike, and adaptable to access needs.
- The exhibition uses coconut fibre and horticultural coir used to cover the floor sculpture. Therefore, it might not be suitable for those with coconut allergies.
- Warning of low lighting in the exhibition space.
- Read more about Accessibility at Fabrica.
- To get in touch, you can call Fabrica at +44 (0) 1273 778 646 or email office@fabrica.org.uk.
COVID-19 precautions
- Every care has been taken to ensure your visit to the Paso exhibition follows all COVID-19 government safety guidelines. The exhibition has been risk assessed and ratified by an external health and safety advisor.
- The front of house team has been trained in Covid-safe practices and will wear face coverings.
- Please bring only limited belongings to the exhibition, if possible.
- There are strict time slots so please make sure to arrive 5 minutes before your time slot. If you are more than 5 minutes late to your timed slot, your ticket may be released.
MORE ABOUT PASO
Experience of the work encourages an attention away from vision, often understood to be Homo sapiens’ primary sense, to focus on close-listening and close-touch. It is an invitation to become more aware of our bodies and the way that they are present and interactive within an environment.
Since their initial residency at Lighthouse in 2019, the artists have been collaborating with Maria Oshodi, with the aim to create a work that is equal in quality for blind, visually-impaired and sighted visitors alike. Oshodi is the Artistic director and CEO of Extant Theatre Company, Britain's only professional performing arts company of blind and partially sighted people.
Paso will be simultaneously launched as an AR app so that the audience can explore the sound composition and visualisations of the sculpture using their phone from wherever they are.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
William Fairbrother is a non-anthropocentric artist and researcher based in London. His works usually involve collaborations with other researchers / creative practitioners and are focussed towards the use of art as a tool to enable less human-centred points of view. He designs with hominins in mind, our closest evolutionary ancestors and non-humans related to us, and is currently concentrated on developing physical experiences that prioritise the subordinate senses over vision which dominates the art sector and media-centric world we live in today.
Website: www.williamfairbrother.co.uk
Instagram: @williamfairbrother
Alberto Ruiz Soler is a sound artist and composer researching how people perceive sound and categorise their sonic environment. He constructs listening experiences through contemporary dance, installations and generative art. He is part of internationally touring works with artists like Igor+Moreno, Lola Maury, Eva Recacha, Hannah Ringham & Glen Neath, Hetain Patel.
Website: www.albertoruizsoler.com
Instagram: @albertoruizsoler
About the commission
Paso is produced by Lighthouse, exhibited in partnership with Fabrica, and supported by Arts Council England and Re-Imagine Europe.
