In our River Sounding project, Bill Fontana has produced a work
in response to the river Thames, and sounds associated with it.
I thought I’d take a look through the Bmic collection and see
how other artists have made work based on this iconic river...
The River Thames once flowed into and alongside Somerset House,
the home of Sound and Music, with ships sailing in through the
Great Arch. River Sounding is a new installation with sound
artist Bill Fontana that returns the Thames to the building,
taking you on an acoustic journey in which the river once again
flows through the Great Arch and into the underground Lightwells
surrounding the courtyard, immersing you in airborne and
underwater sounds and revealing contemporary and historical
connections. Bill Fontana is neither the first, or the last to
be inspired by the great river. This gathering of scores, found
in Sound and Music’s ‘The Collection’ explore the beauty and
menace of London’s muse – the Thames. Nigel Hess – Thames
Journey (1991) In this work Hes