Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast

Fermynwoods Contemporary Art
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Fermynwoods Contemporary Art is an educational charity and arts organisation that supports life through art. We commission innovative and meaningful ways for visual artists to engage with audiences, in public spaces across Northamptonshire and online. Our podcast is an experimental space for the display and creation of contemporary art which is fully accessible from people's homes, featuring original sound art, artist discussions, audio essays, video content and more.

  1. Fermynwoods Podcast 32 – Sapphire Goss

    MAR 20

    Fermynwoods Podcast 32 – Sapphire Goss

    The final episode of the Love + Light season of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast is a new audio work by regular Fermynwoods collaborator, artist Sapphire Goss. Entitled Light Sensitive Materials, the luminescence we are so accustomed to seeing in her video work, is transubstantiated into audible vibrations, offering a rare insight into how light, dark, and everything-in-between might sound. The name comes from an old chemical company in the former USSR/Ukraine – SVEMA – an abbreviation which translates to light-sensitive materials in Russian. The first 8mm Sapphire shot was an expired film from the SVEMA factory in what is now Ukraine (Shostka Reel, 2022). This audio work is created with the sonification of film reels – in essence, taking their luminance and creating audio from them. Within this sensitive process, using software she has dubbed, the Celluloid Synthesiser, Sapphire could adjust parameters like tone and pitch to compose the desired effects and sounds. One of the most fascinating things about this audio is that many of the sounds come from holes punched at the end of film reels, the black at the edge of frames, and scratches and dust. These are then mixed with a selection of field recordings on tape and audio samples from the USC optical sound effects library. The result is a haunting and complex body of sounds which explore every aspect of light and dark, the extractive origins and realities of film processing, death and decay, and so much more. "Listening back is very mysterious, a very oblique look at a period where I was unhinged, off-kilter and probably in a lot of pain. My mind has blocked that out for now like so many decayed reels. Fog, disintegration, decay: erasure is a protection sometimes as well as a loss. Material, personal, global. This feels like something I have unearthed rather than made. The last reveries of dying worlds." Sapphire Goss https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-32-sapphire-goss/

    1h 52m
  2. Fermynwoods Podcast 31 - Luke Jerram, Dan Jones & Siobhan Currie

    JAN 24

    Fermynwoods Podcast 31 - Luke Jerram, Dan Jones & Siobhan Currie

    In this episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast, we hear a layered soundscape of voices responding to fire and forest sparked by Tipping Point, a powerful artwork by internationally renowned artist Luke Jerram, presented by Fermynwoods Contemporary Art in September 2025 in Hazel and Thoroughsale Woods — the largest ancient urban woodland in the UK — at the heart of Corby town centre, Northamptonshire. Originally conceived as a response to the escalating global wildfire crisis, Tipping Point simulated the terrifying realities of forest fires using immersive light, smoke and sound. Set within the woodland itself, the installation transformed a familiar local landscape into an unsettling and moving encounter with environmental breakdown. Central to the work is a bespoke soundtrack by multi-award-winning composer Dan Jones, incorporating the crackling of burning trees, whirring chainsaws and fleeing animals, alongside ambient, melancholic music and deeply affecting global testimonies from people who have experienced wildfires first-hand. Dan was kind enough to share a selection of these sounds, which have been specially edited into this episode. Woven through the episode are interviews with Luke Jerram and Fermynwoods Trustee and Climate Psychologist Siobhan Currie, alongside audio reflections recorded with visitors as they experienced the installation. Together, these voices explore how art can engage emotional, psychological and collective responses to the climate crisis, creating space for reflection, connection and action. Headphones are recommended for the best listening experience. If you have been moved by Tipping Point and want to take some positive environmental action, please consult the resources here.

    1h 40m
  3. Fermynwoods Podcast 30 - Tobias Zehntner, George Turvey & Chad Chadwick

    10/03/2025

    Fermynwoods Podcast 30 - Tobias Zehntner, George Turvey & Chad Chadwick

    In this episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast we hear from a trinity of voices - artist Tobias Zehntner, composer George Turvey, and curate Chad Chadwick - discussing place, community, spirituality and creation in relation to Tobias' Halo installation, shown at the Grade I listed Anglo Saxon, All Saints Church, Earls Barton in April 2025. Originally commissioned in the Abbaye de la Cambre, Belgium, Halo features a suspended light installation that creates a moving interplay of light and shadow that illuminates the church’s architecture and forms halos above the audience. Woven into these conversations are 6 new pieces of music composed by George in response to the artwork, portraying the arrival of light, new beginnings, and the recurring circle of notes in the music mimicking the hypnotic swinging of the installation. These compositions originally accompanied the work for the Halo launch event in All Saints, Earls Barton. Chad broadens the discussion with fascinating insights into the nature of play as a spiritual discipline. The accompanying visual is a video response to the episode, by artist Sapphire Goss. https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-30-halo

    1h 20m
  4. Fermynwoods Podcast 29 – Adrienne Murray

    05/02/2025

    Fermynwoods Podcast 29 – Adrienne Murray

    This episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast presents Ear for the Other - a sonic exploration of the importance of being receptive to, sensing, and feeling for 'the other', by Scottish artist Adrienne Murray. The other is felt in all things outside of the realms of self: within and around space, in the things which space contains, and in the voice and dreams of others. Adrienne writes that in opening yourself up to the other by simply being present and embodied within your environment, a more intuitive empathy for the vitality and poetry which surrounds us can be experienced. Responding to the fragile relationship between immateriality and physical connection in the age of the digital, Adrienne hopes to provide respite from the numb and disconnected states of being brought on by the experience of being repeatedly exposed to vast amounts of information online. Ear for the Other is followed by an enlightening conversation about her work. https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-29-adrienne-murray/

    1h 11m
  5. Fermynwoods Podcast 28 Bonus Content - Sarah Long

    01/25/2025 ·  BONUS

    Fermynwoods Podcast 28 Bonus Content - Sarah Long

    Sarah Long's Tread softly because you tread on my dreams performs a fluid girlhood that invites the listener into the confidence of the autofictional character, Mary. She shares her strange visions in an effort to decipher their meanings. The work plays with the notion of the aisling, an Irish poetic genre where the nation appears to the poet in a dream in the form of a woman. Mary’s dreams offer a critique of inherited language and storytelling systems, while highlighting themes and motifs that reverberate throughout Irish culture such as the impact of colonialism, Celtic mythology and an affinity with the land. https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-28-sarah-long/

    20 min
  6. Fermynwoods Podcast 28 – Sarah Long

    01/25/2025

    Fermynwoods Podcast 28 – Sarah Long

    This episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast features Tread softly because you tread on my dreams, by Irish artist and writer Sarah Long. While the title carries a tongue-in-cheek tone, much like Sarah’s broader body of work, it also captures a quietly sparkling sentiment of love, light, and the intertwining of bygone pasts and potential futures. Through its poetic and fluid narrative, this work invites listeners into the inner world of Mary, an autofictional character navigating her dreams and strange visions. Sarah deftly weaves these visions with the rich tradition of the aisling, an Irish poetic genre where the nation appears to the poet in a dream in the form of a woman. Mary’s dreams offer a critique of inherited language and storytelling systems, while highlighting themes and motifs that reverberate throughout Irish culture such as the impact of colonialism, Celtic mythology and an affinity with the land. Following the presentation of the work, Sarah engages in a fascinating discussion about her creative practice, inspirations, and the broader themes she explores in her work. https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-28-sarah-long/

    1h 12m
  7. Fermynwoods Podcast 27 - Beccy Mccray & Jason Singh

    11/04/2024

    Fermynwoods Podcast 27 - Beccy Mccray & Jason Singh

    This episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast features a fragmentary and poetic discussion between Beccy Mccray and Jason Singh, facilitated by Marie-Chantal Hamrock, which melts together into a rich audio tapestry. Beccy tells us about Intuition Maps – a co-created artwork set in the woodland of Irchester Country Park that leads visitors on a journey through the landscape prompting us to reflect on animal instincts in the context of climate change adaptation. Jason shares insight into his I Bring my Body to This Place to Observe the Coming and Going of Life – a sound installation in Titchmarsh Nature Reserve during the summer of 2016 which explored themes of home, separation and migration for both people and wildlife. Through the lens of one another’s work, themes emerge reflecting on nature, movement and our place in the world. More at: https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-27-beccy-mccray-jason-singh/ The accompanying visual is a video response to the episode, by artist Sapphire Goss.

    1h 29m
  8. Fermynwoods Podcast 26 – David John Scarborough

    08/02/2024

    Fermynwoods Podcast 26 – David John Scarborough

    This episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast with David John Scarborough presents a new work, Dead Wood Burning - a musical tapestry grounded in the idea of Ubi Sunt - a rhetorical question asking where are those that have gone before us. Deftly weaving together samples of music from Pete Seeger's anti-war song 'Where have all the flowers gone?' to moments of David's own music - this is a poetic exploration of ecological breakdown, the long lasting effects of folk tradition, and personal experiences of community, family, and fatherhood. The episode concludes with an insightful discussion with the artist. With thanks to Dean Howard and Tilly Robinson. More at: https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-26-david-john-scarborough The accompanying visual is a video response to the episode, by artist Sapphire Goss.

    1h 10m
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About

Fermynwoods Contemporary Art is an educational charity and arts organisation that supports life through art. We commission innovative and meaningful ways for visual artists to engage with audiences, in public spaces across Northamptonshire and online. Our podcast is an experimental space for the display and creation of contemporary art which is fully accessible from people's homes, featuring original sound art, artist discussions, audio essays, video content and more.

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