Thin Air – The Psycho-Vocalic Discoveries of Alan Smithson
by Dr Annette Gomperts
Short fiction text, presented as a book with images and a four channel sound installation for lecture theatre (with projected still images), 60 mins, 2009.
Belgian architectural historian Dr Annette Gomperts and her collaborator Paul Rooney have produced Thin Air: part science-fiction story, part academic lecture. Thin Air highlights the legacy of 1970s Leeds Polytechnic student Alan Smithson, who claimed that ‘voices’ he had recorded in the Polytechnic’s H Building were sonic manifestations of memories that had been somehow preserved in the electromagnetic ether of it’s rooms through a process which he called ‘site-anamnesis’. Smithson also asserted that the particularly radical and eventful — and ultimately tragic — history of the building had contributed to it’s facility for preserving and recalling the charged moments of remembrance. Thanks to Ron Crowcroft, Sonia Beck and Phill Harding. Commissioned by Leeds Metropolitan University, Sound and Music and MAAP.
Smithson’s recordings appear on the Alan Smithson and Annette Gomperts album Interference Zone on Owd Scrat Records.
James Charnley (Creative Licence book). 2015 publication referencing the work.
Neil Copper (The List magazine). 1/8/2013 article referencing the work.
Editors (Education (Documents of Contemporary Art Series), Whitechapel Gallery/MIT Press book). 2011 publication with excerpts from Thin Air script.
Ben (Toys and Techniques blog). 9/9/2010 review of the booklet.
Julian Cowley (The Wire magazine). Jan. 2010 interview referencing the work.
“Rooney’s skilfully crafted narrative left the audience in a limbo where distinctions between history and fantasy dissolved into an acoustic resonance, as elusive as those improbable ghostly taped voices. Thin Air was sound art at its least routine, imagination performing a ventriloquist’s act, speaking out of the haunted past in a borrowed voice.” Julian Cowley (The Wire magazine). Dec. 2009 review of the work.
Abi Bliss (Frieze magazine online). 22/10/2009 review of the work.
Credits:
Project manager: William Rose
Book design: Joe Gilmore, Qubik www.qubik.com
Book published by Sound and Music, Somerset House, 3rd Floor, South Building, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. ISBN 978-1-907378-01-0
Paul Rooney would like to thank: Sonia Beck, Phill Harding, William Rose, Sue Ball, Ron Crowcroft, Annette Gomperts, Rita Dowd, Rose McGuire, Moira Innes, Paul Carter, Doug Sandle, Derek Horton, Peter Suchin, Robert Joyce, Lena Maskill, Chris Royffe, George Szirtes, Sean McAdam, Geoff Teasdale, Mari Hobbs, Green Gartside, Richard Whitelaw, Sound and Music, Dave Ronalds, Charles Quick, Chris Bailey, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds Central Library, Alice Morgan, Jimmy Singh, Jackie Kerr, Jeremy Akerman, Peter Connolly, Suzanne Fairless-Aitken, Alessandro Gallenzi.
Special thanks go to Keith Rowntree, Principal Information Assistant (Archives), Leeds Metropolitan University, who maintains the Leeds College of Art Archive, located in the Library at Leeds Metropolitan University Civic Quarter Campus. This is part of the University’s Archive and Special Collections. Keith is actively seeking donations and would welcome any information, stories, or reminiscences relating to the collections: k.rowntree@leedsmet.ac.uk
The excerpts from Performance Art Memoirs, Volume 1 by Jeff Nuttall, published by John Calder. Reproduced by kind permission of Oneworld Classics Ltd.
‘Piano’ by George Szirtes (extract) from George Szirtes, Reel published by Bloodaxe Books. Reproduced by kind permission of Bloodaxe Books.
The excerpt from Dumbstruck by Stephen Connor published by Oxford University Press. Reproduced by kind permission of Oxford University Press Ltd.
The excerpts from Everyman at War by C. B. Purdom (ed) published by J.M. Dent. Reproduced by kind permission of Orion Publishing Group Ltd.
‘From The City of Dreadful Something’ (extract) by Martin Bell from Martin Bell, Complete Poems published by Bloodaxe Books. Reproduced by kind permission of Bloodaxe Books.
In memory of Alan Smithson and Jeff Nuttall