Homing is a sound art work created by artists Jen Southern and Sam Thulin with the Media Innovation Studio at the University of Central Lancashire. The work is based on the original letters of Preston soldiers serving in the front line trenches of World War 1, taken from the archives of Lancashire Infantry Museum. The letters are testament to the attempts of soldiers and their loved ones to keep in touch despite the distances and atrocities of the war.
Homing uses sound to make connections at a distance; between presence and absence, people and place, displacement and home. It contrasts the modes of communication used in WW1 and contemporary war. Voices from the harrowing fight on the front collide with the current technology that emphasises accuracy, immediacy and removal of the body from warfare, but that cannot know the context on the ground.
Published to coincide with the exhibition, the publication includes images of the project, including photos and letters from the soldiers, contributions from the project’s artists Jen Southern and Sam Thulin, artist and curator Dominic Smith and Director at the Edwardian Postcard Project Julia Gillen and a foreword from In Certain Places curator Elaine Speight.
Author: Jen Southern and Samuel Thulin Publisher: In Certain Places (2016) ISBN: 978-0-9930498-2-8 54-page A6 book Edition of 150 copies
Click here for audio and video documentation of Homing.
