Organ of Corti

The Organ of Corti grew out of earlier projects by Liminal, including a master-planning project with the Cotswold Water Park, a sound art project with Sustrans, and a Wellcome Trust funded project ‘Tranquility is a State of Mind’ in Worcester. Liminal, (architecture and sound art duo, Frances Crow and David Prior) entered a proposal to build an experimental acoustic sculptural installation for the Performing Rights Society Foundation (PRSF) New Music Award 2010. This would become the Organ of Corti.

Liminal were awarded the PRSF New Music Award 2010 in September 2010, following a high-profile short-listing and public voting process. The award funding of £50,000 would cover the costs of fabricating the experimental instrument, the Organ of Corti, and its installation at a number of sites. Liminal were keen to extend the installation period at the four sites and also planned to develop additional contextualising events. I came on board the project, at first on an informal basis, in November 2010, initially to work on the additional fundraising, and later took on a role in managing practical aspects of the tour.

My role included responsibility for the practical matters around transport and logistics of touring this large installation work, and management of installation and site security. I liaised with the project partners at all stages including Liminal, City of London Festival, Vista Projects in Cumbria, Sustrans at Worcester, Lesley Greene at Cotswold Water Park, and Poltimore House near Exeter.  It was a pleasure to see the project through from the initial stages of fundraising and fabrication through its tour to a semi-permanent siting at Poltimore.