What happens when a wall becomes an invitation?

Made from thousands of strands of fine elastic, Stretch creates a boundary designed to be encountered, explored and transformed. Sound and projection respond to interaction, while the work can be experienced in many different ways, whether encountered from without or explored from within. Open to all ages, this extraordinary interactive installation and sound sculpture by artist Sophia Clist, developed with long-time collaborator Nick Burge, will stretch across the interior of St Mary’s Church for We Shine Community, creating its widest and largest iteration to date.

A wall of fine elastic will stretch across the church, inviting audiences to experience it from within and without, to explore, play and discover how their own movements can transform the work. Touch creates sound, which is captured, processed and amplified, while imagery generated in response is projected back onto the installation. Movement artists enter the sculpture too, finding new ways to move, interact and improvise within its shifting landscape.

At the heart of Stretch is participation: the artwork comes alive through the people who encounter and engage with it in different ways. Fratton Together will lead a programme of community visits, creating opportunities for local groups to experience and explore the installation.

Alongside this, Crying Out Loud will lead Stretch: Creative Exchange, a programme of artist development connected to the work. Local movement and digital artists will develop their practice alongside Sophia and members of the Stretch creative team, with a wider opportunity for local creatives to visit the installation, meet the artists and explore how the work is made.

Created for St Mary’s and shaped by the people who encounter it, Stretch offers a different way to experience this familiar Fratton landmark: a wall that becomes an invitation to cross boundaries, transform the work and be transformed in return.

Artist Bio:

Sophia Clist is an artist and designer with a background in sculpture. She creates installations, sets and objects for audiences and performers to inhabit, manipulate and transform, often working collaboratively across theatre, dance and music.

Her theatre and performance work includes collaborations with Good Chance, Gecko, Oily Cart, Told by an Idiot, Kneehigh Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Theatre-Rites, where she was an Associate Artist for ten years. The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk won the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award in 2017.

Sophia’s independent works include Stretch, Hands Full and Purl, multi-layered projects which continue to evolve through new site-specific iterations.

Nick Burge is a sound designer and artist whose practice draws on his background in dance, sound design and technical theatre. He creates objects and devices that invite physical intervention to produce sound, exploring the relationship between movement, interaction and technology.

After many years working as a dancer in the USA and UK, Nick studied sound design and music technology at the London College of Printing. His collaborative projects include The Trembleators with dance artist Amparo Badiola, presented at Manchester International Festival and BilbaoArte; sound devices for Oily Cart’s Space to Be with Sophia Clist and Joe Wright; and Echo Effect with guitarist and composer Dom Bouffard.

Photo credit: Sophia Clist