‘The Sound of a Landscape’ is a new book by artist, author and sound recordist Mie Fielding, who co-authored ‘Closest Thing to Heaven’ about the Newcastle music scene, which featured on this site in December 2020.
In ‘Sound of a Landscape’ Fielding pictures the Northumberland coast in all its wild splendour. His unique artwork is complimented by Cullercoats poet Harry Gallagher.
“I got to know Harry as he played the late Tom Hadaway (My wife’s uncle) in a theatre production. As I’ve recorded bird sounds and produced avant-garde music for over 30 years, it was a natural idea to put these artistic elements together” explained Mie Fielding.
The book is further enhanced with sound recordings by scanning the accompanying QR code, bringing ‘The Sound of a landscape’.
“The book also gave me a chance to produce two specially written pieces of sound art. One portraying Storm Arwen and the other lamenting the demise of a way of life, once a common sight along the Northumberland coast – the Cullercoats Ghosts” added Fielding.
“As for the sounds in the book, they took nearly a year to capture using an ‘Ambisonic, microphone and other technical equipment”.
An exhibition about the book featuring its poetry, art and sound is held at Newcastle Central Library from 14 -20 December 2023.
Alikivi November 2023
ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE 