shhh.. sounds in spaces is an exhibition at the victoria and albert museum . it is fantastic. a mix of artists + musicians such as david byrne, roots manuva, faultline, cornelius… have chosen a space in the museum + composed a soundscape for it. shhh… takes you on a journey through those spaces. you get given a set of headphones and follow the audio route through the galleries.

the technology is brilliant. when you walk into one of the spaces the soundtrack is triggered automatically by infra red. (we have actually talked about exactly this concept at grace – imagine the stations of the labyrinth in different rooms and the track played when you walked in. if only we were commissioned on a big budget!) i’m not mad about the kind of art in the v + a – i prefer contemporary stuff but this was a great way for me to enjoy it. some of the tracks were fantastic. my favourite was elizabeth frazer’s (of massive attack fame). it played in a room of huge raphael paintings and just sounded beautiful – no words but was simply her humming/improvising over an ambient piece. in the programme she says:

perhaps i’ve held the word in too high regard for in my struggle to connect with the spirit they are simply getting in the way

it’s on until the end of auqust – definiteley worth a visit.