Following a year-long residency with the National Trust, this audio walk by Tom Bailey and Jez riley French features a well produced and multilayered series of sound portraits, detailing some of the history of Leigh Woods. It takes place at night which opens a number of possibilities: it changes the focus of our perception, confronts us with an archetype of the unknown in the form of the dark woods, and allows us to encounter elements abruptly, as they fall within the scope of the two battery powered floodlights carried by the guides.
At its best the piece allows us to dream, considering the vast pre-history of the site when the entire landscape sat below a shallow tropical sea, or the simple steadfast faith of churchgoers walking parish boundaries 200 years ago. It is also worth noting that this is a show featuring an app and that app actually works, which is a pleasant and not universal feature. As we walk the recordings are triggered by GPS with each tailored around a different theme and reflecting features of the woodland.
Two things detracted from my experience: the context of each discrete section of sound is given in text on the phone’s screen and it would have been more effective to have a narrator explain it and thus allow us to remain in a world of sound; secondly while the audio aspect of the experience had been clearly thought out the visual side of things was not so successful. The unfiltered brightness of the floodlights prevented my eyes from adjusting to the darkness, having the dual effect of stopping me from being able to see the wider woods and making it essential to follow rather closely behind the guide in order not to trip on the rough, rock-strewn paths.
Still the night time nature of the walk lifted it out of the everyday and provided a markedly more magical feeling to the proceedings, and the most revelatory moment was when we were asked to remove the headphones and the beautiful symphony of the rain-splashed woods broke all around me. There are plans for this show to become a permanent installation, and I’d suggest it would make an excellent addition to your perambulations.