Lucy Stevens is a multidisciplinary artist trained in the visual arts whose recent work has focused on listening and recording her surrounding environment. Using in- ear microphones she creates binaural audio soundscapes. She is interested in Psychogeography (the study of the specific effects of the geographical environment, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals), and the way in which Guy Debord’s theories have informed the context of her practice. The recording technique, achieves incredibly precise three- dimensional sound to create an experience of physical immediacy and complexity, offering the listener a multitude of sensations, leaving them unable to distinguish between what is ‘live’ sound and what is recorded.
Stevens’ recent sound installations (with and without visual elements) investigate the relationship between humankind and birds, and the cultural significance birds play to human societies.
A current project to support Cornell Science Laboratory in New York to examine why feral pigeons exist in a variety of colours, involved a yearlong documentation (using written notes, photography and video), looking particularly at one area of Leicester. The information gathered will be shared with a composer to interpret into music for a sound installation in early 2013.
Recent projects as part of an artist residency in 2011 at CAMAC (centre for art, science and technology) in France include, The End of the Line, a sound installation that interprets information based on the messages delivered by pigeons during the Franco-Prussian War. Egg Box Messages is a tribute to the pigeon Cher Ami, who saved the lives of the Lost Battalion during WWI. Feeding Frenzy uses bread and seed on light sensitive paper to create a series of prints, accompanied by a recording taken from a microphone hidden inside a loaf of bread.
