A free talk at The Hive will invite audiences to think about one of the most ordinary aspects of everyday life; walking, and the invisible medium that surrounds us; air.
In the latest instalment of the Engine Room lecture series by the University of Worcester, Dr Will Montgomery will discuss Walking in Air, a project that explores how movement through the environment can shape and enable critical thinking.
The series brings together specialists from across the country to share expertise with the public, highlighting work that combines different disciplines.
At its core, the Walking in Air project encourages us to think about two things we usually take for granted.
“We walk all the time and we’re in air all the time,” said Dr Montgomery. “The project is about bringing those two things into focus alongside one another and seeing what can emerge from the conjunction.”
The idea grew from a combination of long-standing artistic interests and more recent experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made people think about air as both a life-sustaining and potentially life-threatening medium.
“Air is completely fundamental to existence, but we’re rarely aware of it,” said Dr Montgomery. “It’s invisible, but it’s pervasive, and something we take into our bodies constantly. It’s the vehicle for the words and sounds we use to interact with one another, but also the vehicle for pollution and disease.”
Over the past five years, Will and the project’s co-organiser, Emmanuelle Waeckerlé, have worked with poets, composers, musicians and artists in diverse locations, looking to generate new work from short site-specific investigations.
The talk will offer insights into the development of the project, as well as Dr Montgomery’s wider research not the relationship between text, sound and creative practice.
He said: “The aim is to encourage people to reflect on both walking and air in their everyday experience, and to see how that awareness might open up new ways of thinking and creating.”
To book your free place at the talk, please visit The Hive website.
To find out more about the Walking in Air project, visit www.walkinginair.com
For information on courses at University of Worcester visit www.worcester.ac.uk or for application enquiries telephone 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk
