Barbara Hepworth
Went to Towner Eastbourne this week as I had not attended the opening, being in remote Iceland. I am delighted to have ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ exhibited alongside ‘Barbara Hepworth Art & Life’. Thank you to Emily Medd for making this happen!
‘The Sculptor Speaks’ is an audiovisual work based on the resounding of an archival tape with the voice of Barbara Hepworth. On loan 27th May to 25th June.
https://townereastbourne.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/olivia-louvel-the-sculptor-speaks
Usually I unplug and pack when I leave, so it was weird leaving the gallery with my work still on, hearing the sound in the distance.
Last time I visited the Hepworth Wakefield Museum was July 2017. In October 2017, I collected footage on the beach in St Ives, not knowing this would form the backbone for the visuals of ‘The Sculptor Speaks’. What an absolute treat to be included in the exhibition ‘Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life’. I enjoyed visiting the exhibition, so dense I visited twice.
Exhibiting the work within Barbara Hepworth’s sculptures brought some constraints - for instance the image had to be quite high on the wall - but also rewards, as one could navigate between her sculptures and my audiovisual piece. Particularly Hepworth’s Spring with its array of strings was resonating with the geometric line being slowly drawn on the wall. The acoustic of the room - gallery 1 - was vast, therefore very reverberant. From the other galleries, we could hear in the distance her voice, as a floating entity. I could envisage how the piece could be developed for multi-speaker diffusion, so I could isolate Hepworth’s voice in the room and create movement of voice.
Hepworth’ s voice was resonating in her own space.
You can also view my piece online here
The Sculptor Speaks was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the Sound Art category at the Ivors Composer Awards 2020. I was delighted, how wonderful to be part of such a celebration of talents across the UK. The ceremony due to take place at the British Museum was cancelled, due to covid, but replaced with a broadcast on BBC Radio 3. I am very grateful for this nomination, it brought visibility to my project, and that means a lot, especially in the context of this challenging year. Sound artist Kathy Hinde was awarded the Ivor Novello in Sound Art for her excellent project ‘Twittering Machines’.
The Sculptor Speaks is a resounding of a 1961 recording of Barbara Hepworth’s voice, premiered on Resonance Extra, followed by an audio-visual iteration.
Watch ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ https://vimeo.com/438255942
I am finally unveiling SculptOr. Three years in the making, I am excited and nervous. The starting point was Barbara Hepworth’s extensive body of writings, which is superbly assembled by Sophie Bowness in Writings and Conversations (Tate publishing, London, 2015). I am grateful to Ms Bowness, trustee of the Hepworth Estate for her continued support.
Throughout my research I discovered that Hepworth had recorded a tape herself in her art studio in St Ives; this lead to the development of resounding The Sculptor Speaks, which will be premiered on Resonance FM. Naturally I visited the Sculpture Garden in St Ives, a true enchantment and the Hepworth Wakefield Museum too.
For a project inspired by Barbara Hepworth, it is appropriate that hers should be the opening voice on the album. In ‘Use Your Own Body’ I re-sculpted Hepworth’s voice in the first moments until handing over her text to my voice for the remainder of the compositions.
“The sound of a mallet or hammer is music to my ears, when either is used rhythmically, and I can tell by sound alone what is going on.” Barbara Hepworth
Below is a video trailer of [Hepworth Resounds], which features excerpts from track 1 ‘Use Your Own Body’, track 5 ‘I, The Sculptor’ and track 3 ‘ I Draw What I Feel In My Body’. All text by Barbara Hepworth.
I have made a sound object with Jesse Holborn handling the artwork design, hope you will enjoy it! From today you can pre-order your copy of SculptOr (deluxe digipack CD) here, https://catwerkimprint.bandcamp.com/album/sculptor and get an immediate download of the track ‘The Weaver’, thank you for your support! It means the world.
O
After having been poorly (I’m often ill in November), I am now back working on resounding the tape, running behind the train! The Sculptor Speaks is a resounding of a 1961 recording of Barbara Hepworth’s voice, shining a singular light on her creative process. I am enjoying every moment of it. Yesterday I extended a section, giving space to the words, which can appear at times too omnipresent.
“I am the figure in the landscape….a new sculpture… “ silence and repeat…
The question is how far do I abstract the words? The message conveyed needs to be clear and transmitted but then I want the voice to become abstract at times. I need to feel free. This is a constant negotiation.
The Sculptor Speaks will be broadcast in its version 1.0 on Resonance FM 10th of January 2020 (This first transmission celebrates her date of birth). Version 1.0 because it will be a stereo mix for the radio format; version 2.0 will be experienced physically in a space. I am currently studying for a Master’s degree at the DMSA, University of Brighton. The work on the tape forms the basis for my research, investigating the voice from preservation to resounding whilst taking further the voice of Hepworth into the physical space as a multi-speaker diffusion.
Recorded by Hepworth herself in her studio in St Ives, the tape’s initial purpose was for a recorded talk with slides for the British Council (original duration 32 mins). Recently I contacted the British Library to obtain further details on the original tape, I will share these findings with you soon… O
