APERTURA by Ed Carter, Nicky Kirk and Tony Broomhead is an interactive sonic sculpture set in the picturesque setting of Northumberland National Park’s, Walltown Country Park.
The sculpture us made up of 1900 copper chimes, creating an evolving soundscape in the ever-changing breeze and inviting audiences to experience a constantly changing, interactive spectacle of shimmering light and sound.
Commissioned for Hadrian’s Wall 1900 Festival, APERTURA has been created in response to the history and topography of Walltown Country Park.
The work highlights a visual fissure in the landscape – a missing section of Hadrian’s Wall, which was lost during the whinstone quarrying that continued until the 1970s.
Inspired by the role of Hadrian’s Wall as a cultural meeting point, the piece reflects on Rudolph Arnheim’s comment that “openings mediate between the worlds separated by architectural barriers”, and encourages a dialogue around our shared experience of borders, boundaries and thresholds.
The wooden sails that hang beneath the windchimes have been decorated by local community participants, breathing life into the sculpture.
