Hum

Curated by Caroline Stevenson for Cartel Gallery, London, this installation consisted of a 9m drawing (divided into four) juxtaposed with a sound element – an arrangement of three record players (each playing their own one-off vinyl acetates), two speakers and an amplifier.

James Thomas made a topographical study of a S.L.O.A.P (Space Left Over After Planning) under the Bow flyover in East London and illustrated the events he experienced as drawn marks on graph paper. This then became the source material for a soundscape produced by Solina Hi-Fi.

Solina Hi-Fi approached the drawing as a score. Once an overall approach to the interpretational and durational aspects of the score was decided each member was assigned one graphic element of the score to work with; dot, line and cloud.

Each member worked alone on their part, the whole piece coming together only at the end when dot, line and cloud were cut onto one-off acetates (dub-plates) and placed onto three record players.

The audience was invited to make their own composition of Hum by playing, rewinding, stopping, starting, speeding up, slowing down and generally manipulating the record players in any way they saw fit.

The work was also presented as an edition of 100 triple vinyl albums with sleeve notes. The album has three records, one each for dot, line and cloud. The B-side of each is a freer rendering of the drawing by each member of the collective.

• http://www.solinahifi.com/hum