Peter Appleton

Peter Appleton’s practice is mainly concentrated on sound installation and objects as containers or generators of sound, and this has been his approach to artmaking. und Peter’s lecture really interesting . It was fascinating to hear how he started experimenting with sound by actually inventing instruments like the water piano. He also showed us how he has been fascinated with the communicative powers of light.

It was very technical and amazing how over the years he has used lasers to actually allow sound to travel on the beams. One of the installations which impressed me was the one he did for the Capital of Culture in 2008 in Liverpool called the Hope Street Project. He turned “the enormity of Liverpool’s two Cathedrals into a delicately resonating sound installation” using two laser beams, one visible and one invisible. Using peoples voices he created a unique experience where the two buildings are nearly singing to each other! It made you listen in a new way. 

It is very clever, but although I will use film making techniques in the future which involves technology and the use of sound, Peter’s use of lasers and sound is  probably too technical for me. I don’t know if it will influence my own style of art but I do appreciate how he is getting you to listen and see things differently, so maybe it will make me think more about how I use sound and combine it with my own visuals.