Every album in the collection was digitised. The sound of the music was then deleted, leaving bursts of applause distributed over the playing time of the original recording, separated by periods of silence.
1999 Biennial Year Find out more
“The applause emanating from the empty concert hall in the back courtyard of Bluecoat Chambers has been composed from almost 400 live recordings in the artist’s record collection, spanning a variety of musical styles from improvised jazz to rock, pop, folk and classical music. It brings together the sounds of audiences recorded over the last 40 years in many parts of the world, from New York’s Carnegie Hall and Brixton Academy to massive outdoor festivals and obscure clubs in Tatlin or Cape Town.
Every album in the collection was digitised. The sound of the music was then deleted, leaving bursts of applause distributed over the playing time of the original recording, separated by periods of silence. All the resulting tracks were mixed together, so that in some parts of the final work very large audiences were created by random overlay, whereas in others a single pair of clapping hands may still be heard for a brief moment or there may be no sound at all.
After its inauguration in Liverpool as a public sound installation, LIVE will be released on a vinyl LP, the limited edition of which will be the same as the number of records used in the production of the work. The album will be launched in October 1999 at the Alten Gramophon-Fabrik in Hanover where the world’s first phonographic record was commercially pressed in 1898.”
– Artist Statement for TRACE
Live, 1999
Audio installation
Courtesy of the artist and FACT (Foundation of Art an Creative Technology)
Exhibited at the Bluecoat Arts Centre