Coming up for Air in [LOCATION] is a multi-stranded artistic initiative focussed on the critical effects of indoor air quality led by Dr Kathryn Williams and Dr Bofan Ma. The project centres upon creating a performance-led, multi-sensory installation driven by live indoor air quality data, making sounds with the invisible particulates constituting the air all around us: to question what and who is changing our air today?
Kathryn (L) and Bofan (R)
We are a duo of composer-performers who are passionate about making an impact through data-rich intermedia performances. We strive to make visible – through music and technology – the interplay between eco-friendly sustainable performing arts infrastructure and musicians’ health and well-being. With generous support from the Centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music (PRiSM) at the Royal Northern College of Music, our creative practice engages closely with accessible digital instruments, as well as cutting edge research in applied artificial intelligence and human computer interface.
|
|
From December 2023 to July 2024, we conducted Phase One of the project in the Rossendale Valley (Lancashire / North Manchester). It saw us develop a strategic partnership with IoT Horizon, an award-winning local technology solutions provider specialising in digital transformation and breaking down barriers.
We have been utilising the company’s state-of-the-art indoor air quality monitoring system, and have delivered a series of Key Stage 2 workshops to local primary schools. We launched the resultant Coming up for Air in [Rossendale] installation as one of the headline events at the Waterfoot Wakes Festival 2024 (commissioned and hosted by the Horse + Bamboo Theatre). The event was covered in the Rossendale Free Press. We believe that our work is timely and important, bridging gaps between data-informed scientific research and the public’s day-to-day encounter with air pollution – the world’s biggest health crisis as of today (7 million premature deaths across the globe each year are associated with the combined effects of indoor and outdoor air pollution, as declared by the World Health Organization). |
|
|
|