Sign/Sound/Southend
Sign/Sound/Southend is the final commission of ‘FPG Sounds’, an online project developed by Focal Point Gallery to support the development of new sound works by artists or groups from or based in Southend-on-Sea.
For this commission, I worked with local D/deaf people and BSL users to explore how sound is more than hearing. Through an accessible workshop and discussion process, participants were encouraged to think about the sounds they experience in Southend – that you see, feel or hear – and were filmed signing that sound in BSL. Participants also made drawings of their sounds that I converted to a series of animations superimposed on the film.
While deaf people don’t experience sound in the same way as hearing people, we see sounds, feel them, and discuss them in our own language too. The film additionally subverts the convention that access for deaf people is bolted on at the end of a project, by making D/deaf language and experience integral to the process.
Special thanks to all the participants for their generosity with time and experience of Southend. Additional thanks to Camille Piper from Southend Deaf Pub group, who helped facilitate the workshops, and to staff at FPG, particularly James Ravinet, Ruth Hazel, and Kim Davey.
Produced and edited by Damien Robinson and Gabrielle Milanese.
You can view the film via FPG's website or by clicking on the images below.
For this commission, I worked with local D/deaf people and BSL users to explore how sound is more than hearing. Through an accessible workshop and discussion process, participants were encouraged to think about the sounds they experience in Southend – that you see, feel or hear – and were filmed signing that sound in BSL. Participants also made drawings of their sounds that I converted to a series of animations superimposed on the film.
While deaf people don’t experience sound in the same way as hearing people, we see sounds, feel them, and discuss them in our own language too. The film additionally subverts the convention that access for deaf people is bolted on at the end of a project, by making D/deaf language and experience integral to the process.
Special thanks to all the participants for their generosity with time and experience of Southend. Additional thanks to Camille Piper from Southend Deaf Pub group, who helped facilitate the workshops, and to staff at FPG, particularly James Ravinet, Ruth Hazel, and Kim Davey.
Produced and edited by Damien Robinson and Gabrielle Milanese.
You can view the film via FPG's website or by clicking on the images below.
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In addition to the online showing, the film was exhibited at FPG as part of S for Southend 2023 until February 19th 2023, and was featured in a-n's February 'must-see' exhibitions article.
The film will also be deposited into The Essex Sound and Video Archive (ESVA), recognising the significance of Southend, including its history and culture, in the development of experimental sound and innovation in the region.