BE OPEN Starts a New Experimental Phase for the Sound Portal With University of the Arts London

LONDON, February 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Launching within the framework of BE OPEN: Inside the Academy, which is the educational platform set up by the think tank, the project is part of a broader aim to explore the five traditional senses with the goal of discovering how to trigger the elusive sixth sense, or intuition. The foundation is committed to developing this concept through innovative projects that create the ultimate synthesis of the sensory and technology.

Following its highly successful public unveiling in Trafalgar Square, as a landmark event at the 2012 London Design Festival, the BE OPEN Sound Portal will now be the focus for an inter-college project with University of the Arts London, running April to June 2013.

The Portal (designed by Arup) will be installed in the Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground at Chelsea College of Art and Design where the College, alongside Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design and London College of Communication, will use it to explore the unique ambisonic sound space, in three quite different ways.  The colleges will begin their individual programmes with a lecture and master-class series from April which will culminate in a symposium - Sounding Space, at the start of June.

'Sound as Measure' led by Chelsea College of Art and Design, sees students experimenting with sound as an integral element of interior and spatial design. The Portal will become the focus of a spectacular external light and soundscape designed to counterpoint to the sound world inside the Portal.

Central Saint Martins 'Nomad Lab' looks at the creative potential of working, 'nomadically' across different artistic disciplines. Here the Portal will become a conceptual, as well as a physical space. A mixed-discipline postgraduate group will create trans-disciplinary sound works. They will also participate in practical sessions covering areas such as data-sonification, audio programming, multi-channel sound and physical computing. The project will involve two student-based commissions and one artist commission.

'Sound, Place, Memory', led by London College of Communication, will comprise workshops and themed talks with contributors drawn from the worlds of acoustic archaeology, sensory geography and anthropology, generating three student compositions and two artist compositions.

The tri-partite sound project will link to 'Resonance FM' to create a life for the project outside the academic realm.

Dean of Chelsea College of Art and Design, George Blacklock, said: "We are proud to be hosting BE OPEN's Sound Portal here at Chelsea. BE OPEN's support gives our students at UAL a unique opportunity to explore the possibilities of working artistically and creatively in an ambisonic sound environment, which they would not have otherwise."  

BE OPEN's Founder, Elena Baturina, said: "I am pleased that BE OPEN's conceptual project continues to evolve, furthering intellectual development. Supporting practical studies, research and sound design with these three world-renowned art colleges underlines BE OPEN's commitment to exploring the possibilities of sound and the sensory journey."

Notes to Editors

The BE OPEN Foundation aims to harness the brainpower of creative leaders through a system of conferences, competitions, exhibitions, master classes, cultural and art events. The BE OPEN Sound Portal was a landmark project for the 2012 London Design Festival, created in collaboration with ARUP and Sound and Music.  An immersive space that focused on the idea of 'design you can't see', it was sited in Trafalgar Square from 19-23 September 2012.

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