MUSIC
´ DYRA
>> SHHE (whose real name is Su Shaw) was inspired to create D Ý R A while at a residency in a Westfjords village called Thingeyri. ‘I had never made work in that kind of environment before; one where you are not in control,’ Shaw says. ‘You had to adapt to the environment. Something always changed or was no longer possible or available or accessible. Everything was constantly in transition and shifting.’ During a storm only a few days into her stay, Shaw’s plans of venturing out into the towering fjords were halted. Stuck inside, the microphone was pointed towards her immediate surroundings. Short recordings of life through the window, the water, the wind and harmony of snowploughs were all collected. ‘As I listened, natural rhythms, patterns and connections began to emerge. That was my first introduction to field recording; those early recordings began to inform, and eventually formed, the basis of the whole project.’ First developed in 2018 with Summerhall, her show will now play a role in creating a space to escape the frenzy of the Fringe. ‘I want it to be a place where you can find stillness, openness and a meditative state.’ Has this encouragement to find serenity within the chaos developed since 2018? ‘My ears have become much more sensitive over the last two years. How many of us became more aware of sounds in our natural environment during lockdown? When everything began to open again, when traffic returned, I realised how loud our environments really are. So much of the way we experience the world is dependent on visuals. We’ve forgotten how to listen.’ The project takes visitors on an intimate sonic journey through a reimagining of the Dýrafjörður environment and considers how a landscape can be collectively experienced. ‘Over the years that the project has been developed, I have felt and seen changes in the landscape with more erratic or abnormal weather conditions both in Iceland and where I live in Scotland,’ says Shaw. ‘With D Ý R A, I wanted to explore the ways that you can evoke the feeling of a place, to be transported to a location through sound, not just to hear but to actively listen, to gently encourage a shift in focus from the visible to the audible.’ D Ý R A, Summerhall, 3–28 August, hourly from 3–7pm.
116 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 1–10 August 2022 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival
Lizabett Russo
3 To See
at pianodrome Summerhall may be laying on a solid programme of innovation and intrigue with its music selection this August, but over at the Old Royal High School, Pianodrome is giving the venue a run for its bitcoins. Scotland-based Romanian artist Lizabett Russo (18 August, 9pm) has a folk sensibility which leans into the avant-garde and a stirring vocal quality that regularly pierces the soul. As part of her PhD, sonic adventurer Lauren Sarah Hayes (24 August, 9pm) undertook research into the ways in which sound and touch interweave within the context and confines of live electronic performance. Among her mind-warping pieces are ‘Bolshevik Pool Party’, ‘Mini Savior Opt’ and ‘Crummiest Coup’. Local acoustic innovators S!nk (19, 21, 26–28 August, times vary) released their album, PopUpOcalypse last summer and are fond of the odd guerilla gig. Further on the plus side, they have a track entitled ‘Sound Of Muesli’.
