A new sonic wellness walking tour through Liverpool city centre launches this Autumn. Sound Drops, created by artists Sarah Stephenson and Roger Hill, are a series of audio interventions at six locations through the city centre.
Conceived as a joint project during lockdown, Sound Drops works on a theory that a combination of words, tuned and untuned sound and field recordings could have a restorative effect on people’s minds and spirits when experienced in relation to personal crises or intensely troubling moments. At a period when mental health issues are acute, the Sound Drops offer a moment of mindfulness amid a busy city.
The six Sound Drops are located at Williamson Square, The Athenaeum at Church Alley, Liverpool ONE, Liverpool Parish Church Gardens, Open Eye Gallery, Exchange Flags. Accessed digitally via a QR code, each location has a bench, offering an opportunity to sit and take a moment to pause. Alternatively, the Sound Drops can be accessed and listened to on foot.
Roger and Sarah say,
“We do hope that people will have positive experiences from our work and gain some perspective on their daily life from time spent with the ‘Sound Drops’”
Liverpool BID Company has supported the installation of the Sound Drops. CEO Bill Addy says,
“We know many people struggle with their mental health and have moments in their everyday life where they need to stop, pause and feel calm. These Sound Drops are an intervention in the public realm, not simply to inject our spaces with art, but also mindfulness. Mental health, and looking after our mental health should have no stigma, it should be something we can see and talk about in our daily lives. In creating this route we want to give people an opportunity to focus on themselves, if only for a moment, while we raise the profile of the importance of our mental health as a city”.
Read more here https://www.liverpoolbidcompany.com/portfolio-items/sound-drops/
Listen to the Sound Drops here https://soundcloud.com/user-610293749