Listening Back To The Sounds From A Galloway Bog

What noises combine to provide the audio experience of a Galloway Peatland? At this event, sound artist Lee Patterson lifts the lid on this underappreciated aspect to our bogs, discussing his work and including the premiere of his ‘Soundings: Late Summer at Knowetop Lochs’ piece.

The ‘Peatland Connections’ project is now underway, seeking to use art and science to reconnect rural communities, scientists, land managers and policymakers with our beautiful peatlands. The project is exploring the functions peatlands provide now and exploring how we can better measure and account for these functions through today’s complex world of land use decisions. For more information about the project, visit the project website here: https://www.peatlandconnections.com/.

The event on 17th November is an opportunity for Lee Patterson to give an overview of his work in recent months capturing the sounds of a bog, focussing on Knowetop Lochs near Corsock.

Peatland Connections Project Officer, Dr Kerry Morrison, said:

“To begin the evening, Lee will introduce us to his work: his field recordings and his live work.

Interwoven and evolving together, his field recording informs his live work and vice versa. They co-exist within a singular sound art practice that, with the possibilities of current recording technologies coupled with open ears, a sense of play and curiosity.

We will then listen to the premiere of ‘Bogland Soundings’ followed by a live improvised performance where Lee will amplify complex sounds hidden within natural and everyday materials, from rock chalk to springs, from burning nuts to aquatic plants and peat.”

Please book your free ticket using the Eventbrite link below: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/soundings-late-summer-at-knowetop-lochs-tickets-445951702547.

The Peatland Connections project is an initiative of the Crichton Carbon Centre, funded by the Galloway Glens Scheme – using funds from the National Lottery Heritage Fund – and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Nick Chisholm, Galloway Glens Project Officer, said:

“Galloway hosts a large proportion of Scotland’s peatlands. The Peatland Connections project is challenging us to look at our bogs differently, and to appreciate their complexity and benefits they provide. This event, drawing on the audio experience on a bog, does exactly that!”