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Hollie Harding’s eco-political Melting, Shifting, Liquid World will be performed on the Museum’s iconic Great Map by Trinity Laban students and staff.

Combining innovative audio technology, promenading musicians, and recordings of Arctic sea ice, composer Hollie Harding reimagines the traditional concert experience to explore themes of climate change and ocean pollution in her new, site-specific piece Melting, Shifting, Liquid World.

On her choice of subject matter Hollie explains, “Sometimes, art is a more arresting way of dealing with issues like climate change as it presents information in a way that can really move people.”

As the piece unfolds on the National Maritime Museum’s Great Map, the audience will be invited to move in and around the musicians. They will experience live acoustic and amplified elements performed by Trinity Laban’s String Ensemble and electric viola soloist Nic Pendlebury (Trinity Laban’s Head of Strings), whilst simultaneously listening to pre-recorded environmental sounds and poetical text via bone-conduction open-ear headphones.

Acclaimed sound recordist Chris Watson, who has worked on David Attenborough’s award-winning documentaries, has contributed field recordings of Arctic sea ice, and Hollie has “translated” ocean-monitoring data sourced from Copernicus Earth observation programme into musical sound to generate ecologically themed recorded material. The work’s title is taken from Maura Dooley’s poem Still Life with Sea Pinks and High Tide (The Silvering, Bloodaxe Books, 2016), fragments of which also feature as part of the pre-recorded sound layer.

Hans Biørn-Lian, Digital Programmes Producer at National Maritime Museum comments, “Hollie’s piece, with its exciting and original elements and environmental agenda, is a great fit for the museum.”

Hollie is currently completing her PhD in Creative Practice at Trinity Laban, investigating space and physical action as elements of composition, and has a collaborative approach to creation –  

“I’m fortunate to be able to work with lots of students and staff at Trinity Laban to develop my ideas. There’s something unique about the atmosphere here: everyone is interested, curious, engaged and looking to collaborate, which makes interesting artistic things happen.”

Hollie Harding is supported by PRS Foundation’s Women Make Music. Melting, Shifting, Liquid World is generously supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation Women Make Music, Aftershokz, Hinrichsen Foundation and the Gemma Classical Music Trust.

Learn more about Hollie’s unique project by watching our video Melting, Shifting, Liquid World.

Melting, Shifting, Liquid World | SAT 16 MAR 17.30h, 19.30h & 21.30h
The Great Map, National Maritime Museum
Admission free, booking required
Book now.

As the UK’s only music and dance conservatoire, Trinity Laban supports a wide range of innovative and collaborative research-based activity that aims to push the boundaries of art forms and promote the development of new artistic media. Find out more about Trinity Laban’s Research Degree Programme by visiting our study pages.