Rob St. John – Surface Tension

I’ve just finished an arts-related Masters degree, and the worst thing about doing it was having to explain to friends and relatives how and why I had ended up doing that course after my previous degrees in Zoology and biological research. Without wanting to bore them, I usually just sort of smiled and laughed nervously as if I knew how crazy I must be too. But what I really wanted to say was that science can contribute to art and art can enrich science. That the two fields are intrinsically linked. Art and science are just different methods of trying to understand the world, and nature (or the lack of it) plays a fundamental role in the experiences of any person. To portray the environment as art (be it a pine forest or an inner-city tower block) is to go some way to representing life itself.

Any project that aims to reconcile art, science and nature will be a project that attempts to capture as big a picture as possible. Rob St. John (who we recently featured as part of Bastard Mountain) is doing just that. As part of the Fixing Broken Rivers project by Thames 21, he is working in and around the East London area, recording what he finds via photographs, field recordings and written word. He recently walked the length of the River Lea in East London, taking field recordings as he went. The result was a collection of clips that capture the life along the river: people chatting, boats passing, aeroplanes flying overhead as swans land in the water. We are probably pushing our remit as a music blog in writing about this, but it makes for an oddly entrancing listen.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/169231037″]

Add in the photographs and you begin to get a comprehensive view of the area, my foretold ‘big picture.’ The recording of everyday things, of life, come alive and conjure a newfound sense of wonder in what would normally be considered mundane. Rob St. John proves there is value in the marriage of science and art, and there is no reason why these ideas can’t be taken further. If their are any super-wealthy philanthropists out there whose fortunes are burning a hole in their pockets, might I suggest some grant-based movement that expands on this form, global projects utilising sounds and music and photgraphs, film and literature and oral history? I’m first in line.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/169227859″]

The final result will be released sometime in 2015 as sound, photography and writing. Keep an eye on the Rob St. John Twitter page for updates.