Sara Bowler

THRESHOLDS was originally made for The Gathering at Goonhilly Village Green 2 (May 2019). The work incorporates field recordings, found sounds and archival recordings wrapped into ideas about three and four dimensional boundaries. Incorporating frequencies rooted in 432Hz, believed by some to be the frequency of the universe, the piece was presented at the Dry Tree standing stone on Goonhilly Downs, marking the confluence of five parish boundaries and the highest point on the Lizard Peninsular, backdropped by the satellite dishes of Goonhilly Earth Station, the first of which broadcast Neil Armstrong’s moon landing on 20 July 1969.

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The work grew out of research into the history of the Trelowarren Estate which now borders Goonhilly Downs but which once stood within its boundaries. Each track incorporates field recordings made at Trelowarren and on the Downs; two sets of (musical) perfect fifths played as tonal frequencies; archive recordings of the satellites Sputnick and Telstar; various space signals known as proton whistlers and chorus clusters; and Neil Armstrong’s iconic message as he set foot on the moon on 20 July 1969, an event I watched on TV as an eleven year old (along with millions of others worldwide) and which was broadcast to the UK from Antennae 1 at Goonhilly Earth Station.

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A complete version of the five tracks together with a single point video is available at https://vimeo.com/512188251