Sounding Belfast During Covid-19 (Lockdowns)

78 ECHOES

What you need: Mobile phone + headphones/earphones Instructions: Go to one of the 17 locations on the map (listed below), walk into the circle, and audio will play (can press pause/play also).

Description: During a global pandemic, countries and cities have become literal ghost towns. Once flustered with sounds from human activities, it has now been overtaken from the once subtle industrial, urban, and natural sound environments. Recording multiple points during the lockdown, we are able to chronologically experience the differences imposed by Covid-19 restrictions and how these spaces have changed from the start of the global pandemic. The recordings focus on periods of Lockdowns (1-3), the Exit Strategies (Summers 2020 and 2021), as well as the Removed Restrictions.

Currently, there are 78 audio files on the map and 17 areas recorded: 1. Albert Memorial Clock 2. Arthur Square 3. Belfast City Hall 4. Botanic Gardens 5. Cathedral Quarter 6. Church Lane 7. Commercial Court 8. Dublin Road 9. Great Victoria Street 10. Laverys Bar Belfast 11. Lisburn Road 12. Queen’s Arcade 13. Queen’s University Belfast 14. Shaftesbury Square 15. St-Anne’s Cathedral 16. The Entries 17. Bridge Street

This project reflects through an auditory and sonic art perspective how the city sounds like without the presence of humans or the normal amount of human density in popular areas in public spaces of Belfast.

Post-experience survey: https://forms.office.com/r/Fp1PwthWS2

Information Creator: Georgios Varoutsos, PhD student at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast Website: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/ Research Project: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/covid-19/

Georgios Varoutsos

I am a sound artist and researcher from Montreal, Canada. I am completing my PhD at Queen's University Belfast with SARC: Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Sound and Music. I have received a Master's in Research in Arts & Humanities with a concentration in Sonic Arts from Queen's University Belfast, passing with distinction. Additionally, I have earned a BFA with Distinction in Electroacoustic Studies and a BA in Anthropology from Concordia University in Montreal. As an artist, I investigate sound through a wide range of projects that have been presented internationally in the form of concerts, installations, exhibitions, and conferences. I am presently interested in research involving urban arts, spatial audio, sonic arts, and socially engaged arts.   For more information: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/