When they had all melted together we heard: Hin, hin, hin, hin, his, tick, tock, crack, brededin, brededac, frr, frrr, frrrr, bou, bou, bou, bou, bou, bou, bou, bou, tracc, tracc, trr, trrr, trrrrr, trrrrrr, on, on, on, on, on, ououououon, Gog, Magog and goodness knows what other barbarous sounds.
(François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel)
Welcome. I am Gerry Smith, a text-based artist whose recent work has been concerned with the commonplace and the everyday. Over the next couple of weeks or so, I shall be putting on Thaw: a series of sound installations sited in various Edinburgh bookshops. Each installation will be specific to the bookshop in which it takes place. This blog will cover Thaw as it progresses. Information will be posted as to where and when each installation will take place, the first being at Blackwell’s Bookshop (South Bridge) on the 30th and 31st of May, 2012.
For iPhone and Android users there is also a browser version for use with headsets. QR codes will be located throughout the shops – using a QR Reader (App) just activate the codes and you can enjoy the sound pieces as you wander around.
Thaw is a participatory project, and an important motivation behind it has been to let the booksellers tell their own stories, and talk about the environments in which they work. My role in this process has been in the editing and presentation of these stories. I hope that you too will take the opportunity to participate by using this site to post your responses to Thaw – just click on Leave a Comment below. Let me know your thoughts on these sound pieces, and if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them.
Thank you for visiting this space, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this work.
Gerry Smith
Thaw 