Vibe³ (Vibe Cube) is a sound installation incorporating collected, donated, and archived sounds that express the “spirit of place”. Part of the Genius Loci/OpenSpace Programme, it was commissioned by Essex County Council.
Between January and September 2009, residents of Colchester, Harlow and Basildon were invited to submit both recordings and ideas for recordings which reflect the history, character, and the unique feel of their area – anything from wildlife to nightlife. As well as the public submissions, artists Damien Robinson and Stuart Bowditch collected foundsounds and researched the sound archives at Essex Sound and Video Archive. The recordings were collected and redeveloped into an ever-changing sound mix, which was played back via the Vibe Cube itself. The Cube was exhibited at locations in the towns and extracts from the work have been uploaded to the Vibe Cube website. The Vibe Cube itself is not just a sound experience; using an innovative form of technology, it becomes a resonating instrument where sounds can be experienced by touch as well as heard.
At the end of the project we donated all the collected recordings to the Archive Essex Sound Archive, where it will help to form a more detailed historical picture of our county, what it is like now and how it is changing.
Details of where and when the work was shown are at the bottom of this entry. And you can check out our diary pages on The Open Space website here to read how the project developed.
The Vibe Cube project is now being developed in Southend and the call is out for Southend residents to contribute in the run up to the cube being exhibited at TAP. See here
Open Space
The Open Space project was part of a major three year public art project ‘Genius Loci’, developed and funded by Essex County Council involving a total of fourteen art projects that develop notions of ‘spirit of place’ across the county.
‘Genius Loci’ has two main goals: to involve artists in the design teams on capital projects; and to establish new dialogue about public art with a focus on sustainability. This, it is proposed, will help improve the image of Essex as an exciting and vibrant place to live.
Four Open Space projects took place across the county in 2009: you can read more about these projects on the Open Space website.
Genius Loci will be the subject of the Spring 2010 edition of Art and Architecture journal and the linked conference (and we may well be showing the Cube there too). See Art & Architecture conferences
The VibeCube was shown at:
14-18 May 09: Basildon Centre (Foyer area) St. Martin's Square Basildon.
25th-28th June 09: Harlow Library (exhibition area), The High, Harlow.
23-27 July 09: Colchester Library (Les Livres Gallery) Trinity Square, Colchester.
20th-24th August 09: Essex Record Office (home of Essex Sound Archive) Wharf Rd Chelmsford. See Essex Sound Archive.
Additional Venue: 11th-13th September 09: The original VibeCube was shown alongside our low-tech work commissioned by Cuckoo Farm Studios, Boxted Rd, Colchester, CO4 5HH. See Outside 09
