A Week To Walk A Fortnight - by NG Bristow

Two hander - mystery of Alex Mann

Can I Ask You a Question? is a sound piece and experiential walk that uses sound as a vehicle to investigate the tensions currently existing along the Regent’s Canal at Kings Cross. Between 1820 and 1960, the canal's primary function was trade, transporting timber, coal and building materials from King's Cross to the major industrial cities of northern England. More recently, due to population growth, housing development, and industrial activities the canal’s usage has changed from a transport route to a promenade. Presently, it is intended to be a place of recreation and relaxation for human inhabitants as well as an ecosystem for birds, insects and amphibians. However, this new usage of Regent’s Canal has led to a decline in the canal's water quality, air, and noise pollution. Interested in exploring the repercussions of these changes, Red Group 3 (RG3) utilized a socio-political lens to study and document human and non-human interactions, and create a sound piece that encompassed the daily activities happening on the canal. By deploying methodologies that included interviewing current residents, examining perspectives of the canal from the surrounding area, and inspecting the environment’s ecology, the group was able to gain a better understanding of the forced agreements the canal’s visitors and inhabitants must adhere to. Through this process, RG3 was able to uncover the realities that exist in this human-made waterway: Concerns of safety and excitement around a growing commercial area were consistent among interviewees; visible pollution and a large bird populations seemingly have an undisturbed coexistence; and the ever-present sounds of the surrounding city remind us that the canal is part of a larger ecosystem many of us are incapable of changing, while also being complicit in its functionality. These discoveries leave us with complex questions such as: with the existence of such contradictions, can the canal be considered a place for coexistence or are these human and non-human interactions artificial and imposed by humans onto animals and their ecosystem? For the humans living on the canal, is their perspective driven by a yearning for economic opportunities and a safe place they can return to for safe dwelling? And what is the role of a visitor that engages with spaces such as Regent’s Canal? These constant questions bring tension to even the most peaceful moments. RG3’s Can I Ask You a Question? captures the sounds representing these simultaneous happenings and encourages listeners to contemplate their overt and covert existence.

UAL Collaborative Sound Project: Red Group (Marc) Making the invisible visible and uncovering the hidden history of Kings Cross through its sounds

Please listen to the following echoes with headphones. In order to access without locating the sites, please turn off autoplay. This soundscape weaves together a series of site-specific histories - from the coal and ice trade industries of the 18th Century, to the 1878 Beaconsfield Buildings, and present day. Using sound as a means of excavation, we aim to uproot these histories that run below our feet. It opens at the border of our assigned area, with the ghostly echoes of the Beaconsfield Buildings, which is now home to a space-age playground, part of Bingfield Park. As a space that heavily evolved with its community, this sound piece emphasises the power we hold to shift a place's identity. We then take you on a journey through the apex of the trade industry in the 18th Century. We give you this time to listen to the murmurations heard at the intersection of the ice trade market and thriving economy of this time. Just over 100 years later, London experiences its worst ever recorded tube fire at King’s Cross Station during the climax of 1990s rave culture. As we dive into this inferno, we ask you to consider the change that undergoes in the face of time. We return you to the sound of silence in the wake of destruction to ask you to consider where we stand in this present moment as we hear the echoes of our past.