Doggerland Channels: a generative sound-relief based on the ancient land which once linked Britain to the continent.

The cartographic sound art installation for voice and data projection throws a net over the North Sea, revealing the rivers which used to connect us to the continent – when the Thames flowed into the Rhine. Doggerland Channels is a landscape whose borders are fluid, fluvial, in need of being retraced, and revealed for a translated experience of the site. Britain was last connected to Europe through the North Sea about 8000 years ago, and we can expect it to be reconnected during future glacial periods. By responding to the present, and the history of the site, the work questions our connection to the continent, and situates ourselves – as islanders – in this transitionary zone: our political exit from the EU.
What is your relationship to the continent?

This work proceeds from research undertaken in Lincolnshire July 2021. Credits: Audio-visual production: Olivia Louvel. Adobe After Effects: Antoine Kendall.
Support from the Arts Council of England (DYCP).
Image: Doggerland Map | ©️ Studio Louvel

ABOUT OLIVIA LOUVEL
Olivia Louvel is a French-born British composer and artist whose work draws on voice, computer music and digital narrative. Her work is presented in the form of sound recordings live performance, sound art installations and video art. She often operates at the intersection of creation and documentation with works such as: ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ (2020), a resounding of a Barbara Hepworth archival tape; ‘The Whole Inside’ (2019), a generative sound mural exploring the violent misogyny of the Incels; ‘Data Regina’ (2017), a multimedia suite based on Mary Queen of Scots’ writings; and ‘Afraid of Women’ (2016), an audio-visual piece raising awareness for Rojava, the autonomous zone in Northern Syria. Her practice is built upon a long-standing exploration of the voice, sung, or spoken, and its manipulation through digital technology as a compositional method. She is a PhD candidate (2021-) at the University of Brighton, investigating the interplay of voice and sculpture.

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