kingBIRD: London Festival of Architecture V


Sound(E)scape, Departure Lounge




The installation Sound(E)scape was developed from an earlier prototype we made. The first model was a hanging box, where you could pop your head into and all impressions from the busy city would be blocked out and it would be possible to have some minutes in private if needed.

Sounds from different and unexpected places were playing inside the box in random order. It is these sounds that are also playing inside the large padded umbrellas; it could be from the rain forest, an ocean, or another place - with a paradoxical feeling that your body is still in London but your mind is of to somewhere else....


kingBIRD: London Festival of Architecture IV

More images from Sound(E)scape





It was so lovely to read this in the guestbook: "I Love Airports Even if I'am not going away. So have really enjoyed the idea of departure Lounge. I Particular loved "Sound(E)Scape it was magical and made me Smile. Thank you". In the image below, you can see Rain and I.



kingBIRD: London Festival of Architecture II

Installing Sound(e)scape

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A very early Wednesday morning a rare sight appeared, in mist or a light summer rain an artist was walking through London caring two giant sized crochet umbrellas. She was headed for the lovely Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park, to set up their exhibition Departure Lounge.




Normally, I don't walk around in London at 7.00 in the morning. But Rain and I (and all the others which installation I also will show you) had to install our work. It was quite busy, since we only had one day to do it, but it was enjoyable and fun too.

We were so blessed that we had some friends who asked if we needed a hand, which we certainly did. Especially because Rain and I were not tall enough to reach the wire from where we were hanging the umbrellas - even on the tallest ladder. So John came to help us hang them up, and he was not allowed off the latter at any time ;-) and dearest Helena had helped us crochet the umbrellas the day before.

I might look like I'm just watching, of course that's not true. I am leading the very important job of deciding and directing where the umbrellas shall be placed ;-)




Above, you can see a time lapse video of what it looks like to hang a cloud of umbrellas in a space. Below, we are having a very well deserved lunch break in the fantastic and green surroundings of the gallery and it isn't raining!



kingBIRD: London Festival of Architecture I

In the studio making: Sound(E)scape for the exhibition Departure Lounge, London Festival of Architecture

The beautiful shadows of fabric (being crochet on the inside) through a white umbrella, a glass of wine and some comfortable converse; there you have it, the secrets of how this work was done.


This post is the first part of the story about the installation Sound(E)scape which were shown at The London Festival of Architecture in the show; "Departure Lounge" Pump House Gallery, London, July 2012. The exhibition is an outcome from a project called Across RCA and this work is made in collaboration with architect Rain Wu.

This installation is going to be a sound-scape or perhaps rather a sound-escape. The inspiration for this work is taken from the title of the show, Departure Lounge; the feeling of standing in the airport - watching the screens, showing all the departure destinations;
"and thinking what if my flight was going to a whole other destination than planned, where would it take me?"
The umbrellas are iconic British and the colour white is chosen to mimic clouds, just as we were flying somewhere else. In some of the umbrellas sounds from different and surprising locations will be playing. The umbrellas playing sound are on the inside padded with lanes of fabric crocheted, to give the illusion of a more private and enclosed space, from which you can depart on the imaginary sound journey.

When we decided on the crochet texture on the inside, it seemed as a good idea and it was, but it took forever and it was so hard physically that my arms were falling off. It was a true tour de force in 'granny skills'. But to be fair it was quite fun and kind of captivating to do this monotone manual labour. 

Help me out from here! I am being attacked by a killer-umbrella!
 - Ooh yes, rescued
- Thank you so much... I need a drink after this!


Rain was sorting out some of the logistics in the gallery. I was in the studio. As you can see, I had help and people kept me company and feed me and checked if I was alive underneath the giant umbrella. We needed 2 crocheted umbrellas - and the second one was, as always much faster :-D. In the picture beneath you can see John helping out attaching the crochet fabric to the inside.










Surrealistic Ball

The last ball of the season


helle kingBIRD bjerregaard



You see, there are no way out of this situation, the subtitles of the movie we are in says, my friend Ester noticed. It's almost ironically true and now I guess there isn't. One year into the RCA experience and still with one more year to go, we are located exactly in between the end and the start of this adventure.

We went to the last party at the Royal College of Art for this year. Luckily we still have a year more to go, so it wasn't our last party. It's difficult to comprehend that we've already been here a year. Well, in a way it feels like, I've known all my friends forever, but at the other hand it still feels like the first week, where we all meet and the 2nd year students was about to start their final year. I can't believe what we saw them go through - and to know that would be us next year seems even more strange.

The theme of the ball was 1920's surrealism and everyone was dressed up and the setup and staging was fantastic. Here are some images of my class mates and me.