Exploring Taylor Park Through Memory, Movement, and Sound
At Sensory Creative Lab, we believe in the power of creativity to connect people, places, and memories. Recently, our artists had the privilege of delivering interactive workshops with Buzz Hub (St Helens Coalition of Disabled People).
Working closely with their members, we set out on a unique creative journey centred around a beloved local landmark: Taylor Park.
Setting the Scene: A Virtual Walk in the Park
To bring the essence of Taylor Park into the room, our sessions began with a pre-recorded, filmed walk through the park. Created by our artists prior to the workshops, this virtual stroll blended photography with immersive field recordings of the park’s natural environment.
This set a calming, reflective tone for our main goal: uncovering the personal memories the Buzz Hub members held about Taylor Park. Participants generously shared their stories with us, which we captured through oral recordings, written words, and hand-drawn artwork.
Turning Voices into Instruments
We took the audio recordings of the participants’ voices and transformed them into playable digital instruments. But rather than using traditional keyboards to play these sounds, we used nature itself.
Using specialised bioelectric technology, we turned bowls of water and living plants into musical interfaces. The bowls of water were a nod to the large lake at the heart of Taylor Park, while the plants represented the park’s lush greenery.
The Power of Movement
A vital part of this creative process was movement. The bioelectric setup didn’t just require touch; it responded to proximity.
Much like playing a theremin, participants could generate and manipulate the musical sounds of their own voices simply by moving their hands and bodies closer to, or further away from, the plants. This allowed the groups to physically and intuitively “dance” with the greenery, composing completely unique music in real-time as a direct response to their memories of the park.
Live at Taylor Park
The project culminated in a live, public version of the workshops at a local festival run by the Friends of Taylor Park. For this event, we brought the auditory elements of the project to life, presenting a carefully curated layering of the ambient sounds and spoken recordings gathered from the Buzz Hub members, giving the audience an opportunity to interact with the water and plants and create their own music.
During the festival, one of our artists performed a five-minute live mix of this unique sound piece, blending the community’s oral histories and bioelectric instruments in real-time.
To capture the full legacy of the project, this live audio performance was then combined with the visual artwork created during the sessions. The resulting film is a multi-layered tapestry that merges the spoken voices and live bioelectric music with the hand-drawn artwork, collages, writings, and photography.
We invite you to experience the sights, sounds, and memories of Taylor Park through the eyes and ears of the Buzz Hub community.
Watch the full film below:
A huge thank you to Buzz Hub, their amazing members, and the Friends of Taylor Park for making this project possible!