Claire Tolan SHUSH Choir | Rokolectiv 2017

Claire Tolan _ SHUSH Choir

15.9.2017

workshop 18:30-20:30 (limited to 10 participants)

public performance 20:30-21:00

part of Rokolectiv 2017

ASMR, Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, describes a tingling sensation in the scalp and the spine, a physiological response provoked by soft sounds, such as whispering, nail tapping, and hair brushing. In recent years, a massive YouTube subculture has grown around ASMR, sharing over two million videos that recombine the soft, crinkly sounds in an incredible array of scenarios and soundscapes. The intention of these videos is not only to trigger the tingles, but also to ease anxiety, insomnia, and loneliness.

SHUSH is the central figure of Tolan’s forthcoming fantasy/ASMR tabletop role-playing game.

In an attempt to entice SHUSH and speed its arrival, the SHUSH choir performs a devotional with bells and voices, utilising the methods of change-ringing. Change-ringing is a communal system of bell-ringing, developed in English church towers in the 17th century. Change-ringing patterns, or methods, cycle through variations of bell sounding order, following complex, braid-like diagrams. Most methods guide the ringers through a series of unique permutations that open and close with identical sounding orders, ending always where it began.

Participants will experiment with both ASMR and change-ringing techniques, resulting in a performance that plays through methods of whispers and ringing. These patterns combine into an infinitely iterative, looping construction, which locks the voices and the bells into a cyclical holding pattern.

The workshop will last for approximately two hours and it’s open to maximum 10 participants Following a short break, the SHUSH choir will perform its devotional for an audience.