Sound installation commissioned by Sanctuary Lab, shown at Sanctuary in the Galloway Dark Sky Park in September 2017.

This installation took place in a small hut by a waterfall, and was comprised of a number of large church candles fitted with sensors. Each time a candle was lit a sound was played – the sounds layered on top of each other as more candles were lit.

The sounds being played were prayer requests posted on the internet in the week leading up to the festival. These were videos from youtube of people desperate for prayers – some were going in for a health diagnosis, some were worried that a friend had lost their way, some were convinced that an impending disaster had been revealed to them in a dream. All of them were asking for prayers. The videos all had less than 50 views, most had less than 10.

The installation started in the afternoon and ran into the night. Judging from the used matches over a hundred candles were lit during the six hours it was on. The prayers blended into the rain and water in a lovely way…here’s a field recording I made that attempts to recreate the experience.

Many many thanks to Jo Hodges and Robbie Coleman from Sanctuary Lab for this commission, it was an amazing journey and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. Also big thanks to the team on the ground who did an incredible job in very challenging conditions.