The Hastings sound fountain

The term ‘ Performing Data’ was first used by the artist Dr Rachel Jacobs and became the title of Caroline Locke’s research residency at Nottingham University. The Performing Data Project was developed by an interdisciplinary group of HCI (Human, Computer, Interaction) researchers, artists and creative technicians based across the Mixed Reality Lab and Horizon Digital Economy Institute. The Hastings Sound Fountain was developed as part of this project and residency.

Locke makes works that ‘Perform data’, revealing data to an audience in various embodied forms - sometimes slowly, sometimes live, to elicit emotions, engage the imagination, extend understanding and to inspire an audience to reflect. Caroline makes links to our natural world and finds ways to expose the beauty in nature. She is keen to find innovative ways of communicating scientific and environmental research to a public audience. The Hastings Sound Fountain at FACT was controlled by data being sent LIVE from Hastings Pier. A sensor on the end of the pier is recording the rise and fall of the sea level and the levels trigger the rise and fall in the sound frequencies being sent to the Fountain. As the sensor tracks the rise and fall of the sea, frequencies sweep through the Sound Fountain, causing ripples and waves on the water surface. A visualisation of the live data and footage of the sea beneath the sensor is projected or viewed on a monitor close to the fountain.
Locke contributed to a series of workshops, talks, and events, which were scheduled to facilitate visitor understanding at FACT in Liverpool in July 2015. The Hastings Sound Fountain was exhibited as part of these events.