Lauren Healey

Linear shift is the result of a new collaboration between Newcastle-based artists Taryn Edmonds and Lauren Healey.

Urban locations are highly complex spaces, existing at multiple levels formed by historical, geographical, economical, political and social actions. These do not exist as static constructs, but rather each level is continuously in flux, whilst overlapping, conflicting and adjoining with those other layers which together comprise the urban environment.*

Using the site of the former Wallsend Maritime Research Centre as a paradigm where multiple layers of time co-exist in the same space, Linear Shift brings together observations from this site and the surrounding riverside landscape in an immersive audio-visual installation.

Part of the industrial landscape that characterised Newcastle for much of the last century, the site is now in a state of transition. Caught in a moment of economic uncertainty, it hovers in a limbo before its intended transformation into a contemporary riverside business park. A story that resonates with many post-industrial cities across the country, Linear Shift is a snapshot in the history of this place – a precarious moment that is both significant yet unremarkable.

Presented as a sculptural video and surround sound installation, the work combines techniques drawn from the artists’ backgrounds in documentary film and still photography. Whilst this approach to the visuals keeps the eye detached and observational, a highly choreographed soundscape playfully animates the film beyond the screen and introduces alternative narratives to the audience.

* Robert Brown, Mapping the Unmappable, Knowing the Unknowable, Nyhedsavisen Public Interfaces, 2012

Project blog: http://linearshift.posterous.com/

Linear Shift is funded by Arts Council England via Grants for the Arts, and also gratefully supported by partners Newcastle University, Culture Lab & Blyth Valley Arts.