Artist Interview - Justin Wiggan
Sound artist Justin Wiggan has been delivering incredible school and community workshops as part of the Voices in Harmony project. Justin and his internal garden technology will be livestreaming from Cornwall on Friday, July 1st, and forming part of our ‘Voices in Harmony’ celebration concert on Saturday 16th July.
We interviewed him to find out a bit more about his work...
How did you get involved with Andover Trees United?
Wendy (Andover Trees founder & trustee) saw my Internal Garden project at the Grow Wild networking event with Richard Pollard, and contacted me to tell me about the new project that ATU were embarking on - to connect people of all ages, especially children and young people, to trees and their local landscape, and make emotional connections to the plants that live and grow there.
What is meant by “the sounds of the trees”, or “tree singing”?
I have specialist technical equipment that can ‘read’ or take information from plants and trees. It detects slight electrical variations in a plant via two electrodes placed on the leaves. These variations are graphed as a wave, which is translated into pitch messages that play musical instruments. Other characteristics of the wave change the textural qualities of those sounds. The result is a continuous stream of pleasing music that gives you a sonic window into the secret life of plants.
How will the trees of Harmony Woods be part of the ‘Voices in Harmony’ concert on Saturday 16th July?
I spent time taking sounds from two trees in Harmony Woods and these will be the backing tracks for the choir to sing two tree shanties, put together by the very talented Paul Sartin and Jackie Oates. The words for the tree shanties were created by the local school children who were experiencing Internal Garden. They were not just hearing the sounds but feeling them with the aid of a haptic backpack called a Subpac. This physical connection to plant life inspired them to write positive and beautiful responses which we used as lyrics.
You are going to be putting on a livestream on Friday 1st July - what can viewers expect from this?
I will be doing a livestream from my studio in Cornwall using various succulent plants, as a wellbeing/deep listening session, and also a Q&A.
Can you tell us about any cool discoveries you have made with your equipment?
Yes - that plants react differently to men than women.
What other projects are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a top-secret element of Internal Garden at the moment that I can’t talk about, but it involves a certain suit from a well-known person who loves space.
Where can we find you online to follow your work?
Googling my name is the easiest way, as I have lots of projects. If it is Internal Garden you’re keen on: www.instagram.com/gardeninternal or http://www.internalgarden.info/ . And of course there’s the livestream on Friday 1st July, 7:30-8:30pm - just email volunteers@andovertrees.org.uk to register for free, and you’ll be sent a link to access the livestream nearer the time.
Anything else you would like to tell us?
Look after your surroundings, and open your ears, minds, and hearts.
Amazing. Thank you, Justin for all your work with the Voices in Harmony project, we can’t wait for the livestream and concert! :)
