The Memory Tree
An interactive sound installation commissioned by Shangri-La for Glastonbury Festival 2019.
Through sound, The Memory Tree explores what life is like in 2019 and gives people an opportunity for their voices to be heard.
Built from recycled speakers, the sculpture broadcast an engaging sonic documentary of thoughts, memories, and impressions of modern society throughout the festival.
All the recordings were threaded together creating a living soundscape, reflecting the cultural mind of our times.
Shangri-La is Glastonbury Festivals artistic and political heart. This year they took a satirical look at the state of humanity, the impending apocalypse, the climate crisis and the uncertain political landscape we are currently facing. It was an honour for us to contribute to the 10th-anniversary edition with a unique sound installation.
We created a thought-provoking and engaging sound sculpture which could be enjoyed and listened to by people throughout Shangri-La.
We interviewed 35 people from 8 different countries asking a series of questions to find out what life is like in 2019. The recordings were combined with original music scored at Echoic alongside sound effects to make up the final composition.
The Memory Tree was featured in this Bristol Live post and This Guardian review of Glastonbury 2019.
We found a place that really resonated with the people of Glastonbury Festival, crystallising an important time in history through the rawness and honesty in the sound recordings captured, and providing a small sanctuary amidst the chaos surrounding it. Witnessing the reactions and watching people sitting and contemplating beneath our future forest was breathtaking. People’s voices need to be heard, and we need one another more than ever in order to survive.
Kaye Dunnings - Creative Director - Shangri-La
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed, we could not have made it happen without you.
Alexandra Grandon, Amy Gettings, Angelika Sivyer, Anna Louise Taylor, Ben Holding, Beth Goodenough, Bill Byfield, Caleb Sivyer, David Johnston, Dominika Cech, Dominique Bowden, Emily Gilbert, George Winstanley, Georgie Ward, Gillian Burke, Gus Nisbit, Hasan Kanchwala, Jacqui Lewis, Javier Chicano, Jim Cornick, Jon Chambers, Jose Suarez, Lottie Ball, Marlo Boyd, Melissa Thom, Musab Asad, Owain Kimber, Patricia Jury, Patrick Browne, Sami Goddard, Seamus Drake, Sian Hazell, Spencer Lim, Tom Gilbert, Ursula Hutchinson.
