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Drilling for Oil was an immersive day of sculpture, discussion, participation, and performance, bringing together over 100 people from near and far. On an exceptionally cold and windy summer Bank Holiday Saturday, the gathering took a light-hearted yet thought-provoking look at our dependency on fossil fuels. Drilling For Oil | An Immersive Performance < Back 31 August 2024 Drilling for Oil was an immersive day of sculpture, discussion, participation, and performance, bringing together over 100 people from near and far. On an exceptionally cold and windy summer Bank Holiday Saturday, the gathering took a light-hearted yet thought-provoking look at our dependency on fossil fuels. Previous Next Drilling for Oil | An Immersive Performance – A Day of Exchange, Performance & Reflection From the first discussions in the afternoon to the final musical notes of the evening, Drilling for Oil | An Im mersive Performance brought together over 100 people in an open, participatory exploration of fossil fuel dependency, environmental impact, and artistic response. Beginning with a thought-provoking discussion led by Professor John Wood, the day evolved through sculpture, live music, and spoken word, creating space for deep reflection and shared experience. On Bawley Bay, the Wavelength Orchestra responded to the movement of the Thames, blending human and natural rhythms in a powerful sonic collaboration. As the sun set, the audience joined a sculptural procession, carrying Alice Helps’ steel oil rig and crab into the Fourth Portal, where immersive projections and live classical music transformed the space. With opera, poetry, and the gentle hum of conversation filling the room, Drilling for Oil concluded as it began—an invitation to engage, reflect, and imagine new possibilities for the future. Drilling for Oil Discussion, Prof. Emeritus John Wood, Alice Helps, Liam Handley and Naomi Boyle Opening Discussion: Rethinking Energy and Extraction The day began with a lively discussion hosted by Professor Emeritus John Wood ( Gold smiths), bringing together artist Alice Helps, plant biologist Dr Liam Handley, and artist Naomi Boyle to explore energy alternatives and the environmental impact of resource extraction. Set in the informal setting of Fourth Portal, the conversation welcomed input from the audience, reinforcing the venue’s role as a space where art, science, and public discourse intersect. Alice discussed her response to the UK government’s decision to grant new North Sea oil drilling licences, and her BA First-Class dissertation accompanying the sculptures is available to view by pressing the Documentation Page at the bottom of this page. Liam provided insight into the fragility of marine ecosystems and how fossil fuel expansion threatens biodiversity. Naomi Boyle brought a unique perspective through her passion for clay and natural materials, reflecting on how industries reliant on extraction shape both the environment and artistic practice. Professor Wood steered the conversation towards rethinking our economic reliance on fossil fuels, inviting participants to consider alternative models that promote sustainability and long-term environmental responsibility. His New School Futures project provides a new curriculum for environmental education, building on his earlier Metadesign research and his work developing the first Design Futures MA and department at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 1990. This interactive exchange set the stage for an afternoon and evening of participatory performances, grounding the event in critical thought while emphasising the role of creativity in addressing urgent environmental challenges. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/2fcede_0b70c33241f844eea35b2315812d1f71/1080p/mp4/file.mp4 Clip of talk and audience engagement Sculptures Alice Helps’ sculptures explore environmental activism through welded steel, highlighting the tension between industry and nature. Her oil rig sculpture, made from recycled scrap steel, was inspired by her reaction to new oil and gas licences being granted in the North Sea, driving her to question extractive industries and their environmental toll. Alongside it, a towering steel crab, influenced by the Japanese Spider Crab and the evolutionary process of carcinization, confronts viewers with its immense, alien-like presence. Drawing from Louise Bourgeois’ spider sculptures, the crab symbolises deep-sea resilience against human impact. Throughout the installation at the Fourth Portal, projections of digitally sculpted undersea creatures, created in Blender, surround the sculptures, immersing visitors in a world where industry and marine life collide. Wavelength Orchestra at Bawley Bay As the tide receded, Bawley Bay transformed into a performance space for the Wavelength Orchestra, an open-access group of musicians brought together to create a slowly evolving, site-specific composition. Led by Richard Sanderson, the orchestra’s score was the natural rhythm of the River Thames, with layers of improvised sound building into a rich, immersive experience. Musicians of all skill levels joined in—some seasoned, others picking up an instrument for the first time—adding to the orchestra’s organic, ever-changing soundscape. The result was a meditative and powerful auditory experience, captivating both participants and the audience as the sun dipped toward the horizon. A Procession of Sound and Sculpture As the final notes faded, the Wavelength Orchestra and audience joined together in a procession, carrying Alice Helps’ steel oil rig and crab sculptures from Bawley Bay into the Fourth Portal. The slow, deliberate movement of the crowd mirrored the steady evolution of the orchestra’s music, creating a moment of transition—from outdoor performance to indoor installation, from public space to intimate reflection. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/2fcede_a1d9a8f2fbc04829aee72cc61ae127d6/480p/mp4/file.mp4 An Evening of Opera, Classical Music, and Spoken Word As the sculpture procession entered the Fourth Portal, the evening transitioned into an intimate, multi-layered performance that wove together opera, classical music, poetry, and spoken word. Rachel, co-owner of the Compass Micro Pub, filled the space with a soaring operatic performance, her voice resonating through the room, meeting the sculptures as if in dialogue with their industrial forms. Accompanying her on piano was Julian Jacobson, one of Britain's most accomplished pianists, returning to the Fourth Portal following his lauded performance in February 2024. Julian’s set, inspired by rivers and the sea, included works by Debussy and other composers, each piece evoking the movement and power of water—a theme at the heart of the night’s discussion. Poetry and spoken word performances were interspersed throughout, creating a natural ebb and flow between music and language, reinforcing the event’s exploration of our complex relationship with fossil fuels and the environment. As projections of digitally sculpted marine creatures illuminated the space, the music, words, and visual elements merged into a deeply immersive experience, inviting the audience to reflect, engage, and participate in this unique artistic response to the climate crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2so7XRDDA Reviews: Capturing the Power of the Evening The impact of the evening concert and entire day was best expressed through the voices of those who experienced it firsthand. Reviews were incredible, with many describing the event as unlike anything they had attended before—a unique blend of art, discussion, and performance that resonated deeply. These video reviews from Gravesend residents capture the energy, emotion, and power of the night, highlighting the lasting impression left by the immersive performances, thought-provoking discussions, and the collective experience of music, sculpture, and spoken word at the Fourth Portal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKIJv5KLevM Event Promo Page DRILLING FOR OIL | AN IMMERSIVE PERFORMANCE 31 August 2024, 15:00–23:00 Fourth Portal Register Now Support The Fourth Portal would like to thank Gravesham Borough Council for its kind support of Drilling for Oil | An Immersive Performance. Visit Event Page MORE ON THIS EVENT BELOW Previous Next Event Documentation Previous Next

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< Back Freesound In The Era Of Generative Artificial Intelligence Freesound was started in 2005 in the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Freesound aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, and all sorts of bleeps, released under Creative Commons licenses that allow reuse. In an era of AI, what is the future of this important resource. Freesound Blog 9 Jun 2024 Opening and closing paragraphs from the Freesound blog. Opening Paragraph In recent years, the phrase Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become part of our everyday conversations. In particular, since the explosion of generative AI models like ChatGPT or other models that can generate high-quality audio (e.g. AudioGen , AudioLDM 2 , and Stable Audio Open , which has just been released and is trained with Freesound sounds), AI systems have demonstrated being capable of doing things which were unimaginable only some years ago. We don’t know how AI will impact society at large, but it is very clear that AI is here to stay and that it will more and more become an important element in our lives. This is raising concerns, for example, within the artistic community, AI can be seen as a potential threat to the way in which many artists make their living, and one that questions the values of effort, skill and creativity. Concerns about the potential impact of AI on a platform like Freesound have also been expressed in the Freesound forums. Here, at the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra where Freesound happens , we have also been discussing such concerns. [...] Closing Paragraph The overall question is how to use and integrate AI technology in a way that benefits the Freesound community, and this is what we are starting to address with this blog post. At the Music Technology Group, we conduct cutting-edge AI research while considering its social, economic, legal, ethical, cultural, and artistic implications . Research is being carried out, not only by us but also by many other research institutions, which provides new ways to address the threats raised by AI, contributing to a fair and responsible AI. And, again, Freesound is a very important resource for such research. In a similar way in which Freesound became a great example of a sound-sharing ecosystem based on Creative Commons licences, we have the opportunity now to become an inspiring example of how AI can be used to empower a community and to articulate positive experiences for sound practitioners alike. https://blog.freesound.org/?p=2082 For more: AI, Audio, LLM, Machine Learning Previous Next

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< Back Tony Thorley Anthony John Thorley. Brought up and lived until 1996 in Northfleet/ Gravesend. Retired papermaker and care assistant. Aged 83 years. Married to Rita for 54years. Resident in Sittingbourne Kent. Discovered Fourth Portal through my daughter. With my papermaking experience became involved in the artist in residence paper project. Q1: How and when did you first discover the Fourth Portal? Discovered Fourth Portal through my daughter. With my papermaking experience became involved in the artist in residence paper project. Q2: What were your initial impressions? My initial impressions were of a somewhat bemused nature, having some trouble with getting my head around the concept of AI being used as a tool for social enhancement and the melding of people with ideas in art or industry creating opportunity. Q3: How has Fourth Portal inspired you? I have been inspired to value the Fourth Portal as a comfortable space where I can meet people of diverse background, ethnicity, religion etc. with the facility to discuss ideas supported by the knowledge that it is a safe space. With the facility to explore my artistic attributes anew and become aware of new technologies and materials. The use of which has the potential to reinvigorate the community of Gravesend. Q4: Will the inspiration be of benefit in the future? I can only see the inspiration that I am getting from the Fourth Portal carrying on into the future reinvigorating the community of my mind. Q5: (optional) Anything you wish to add? Nothing further added Previous Next