Simon Whetham 'Active Crossover' 2009

'Active Crossover' is a term referring to speaker construction , meaning that the speaker is transmitting sound information consistently and accurately. I feel this to be a perfect title for the project I am running, as will become clear from my explanation.

In October 2008, I joined a group of UK-based performance artists (ProtoPlay Collective) in a residency in Tallinn, Estonia, as guests of the Non Grata collective. On my return to the UK, I received an invitation to return to Tallinn as Artist-in-Residence at the Polymer Factory Culturehouse, which I duly accepted.

In addition to creating new work, I presented work and practices; ran listening, field recording and composition workshops; and along with John Grzinich, provided a live sound accompaniment to a performance by renowned Estonian artist Peeter Allik.

John Grzinich also invited me to perform at an event arranged by Moks at the Y-Gallery in Tartu, alongside Jez riley French (UK field recording artist) who was in residence at Moks (in Mooste, Estonia) through May. John, Jez and I also travelled to Riga, Latvia, to perform for a radio station and an event arranged by Maksim Shentelev.

From the beginning, I saw the residency as an opportunity to work with other artists, exchanging ideas and theories, with a view to exhibiting the results in the UK on my return.

The exhibition takes the form of a sound installation comprising two enclosed sound chambers. In one you will hear my composition created during and following the residency, in the other I will present work by all the artists i worked and performed with, as well as pieces created during the composition workshop I ran. When outside the enclosed spaces, the listener will hear both, combining my work with that of the guest artists.

The first showing of the exhibition was installed in the Dark Studio at Arnolfini in Bristol from 1st to 18th October 2009, and featured as a major part of 'All Around You', a season of events concerning the use of sound, and field recordings, in art.

The exhibition has also been hosted by Grey Area Gallery in Brighton throughout February 2010. Here my composition also included recordings captured in and around Bristol and Brighton, which was combined with the original work resulting from the residency in Estonia, charting the journey of the exhibition.

All artists who perform at Active Crossover events in Bristol have work added to the exhibiton as guest artists, creating an ever-growing body of work, and thus continuing the ‘crossover'.