Nightwalker, a new audio experience by artist Hannah Sullivan (in early stage development) about a woman walking at night. Using sound and text, the work explores the night’s strange and beautiful qualities.
Through research & conversations the piece examines the significance of women's lives and freedom at night. Working with intuition and imagination, this piece carefully composes an audio experience that seeks to alter the narrative of women’s presence within the urban night.
A “night body” or “night self” different from that of our daytime identity, Nightwalker considers how walking at night fosters transformation.
‘I became very fond of the dark… The night is its own fragile world, a natural phenomena, under threat. The darkness is a potential refuge, hospitable, but one that is hard to access. As a woman walking at night, I am acting against domesticity.’
- Hannah Sullivan, Nightwalker, blog post.
This work is part of a wider research and development project titled Nightlife, a diptych of work exploring women’s lives at night. Nightwalker will exist alongside Afterparty, a dance and music collaboration exploring female DJ culture and night time dancefloors, Nightwalker being the solitary sister to that party.
Creative Team:
Composed and Written by Hannah Sullivan
Dramaturgy by Tanuja Amarasuriya
Creative sound mentorship/collaboration from Sally Pilkington and Daisy Moon
Produced by Ellen Booth
Made with support from:
The Brigstow Institute, MAYK, GIFT, ReStoke and Arts Council England.
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Previous to this project;
Nightwalker, a research project supported by Brigstow, at University of Bristol. A collaboration with academic researchers Dr Eleanor Rycroft and Dr Andy Flack. Bringing together three perspectives; historical, environmental and performative to consider the feminine contemporary nightwalker. Typically our perception of a woman walking at night is shrouded in danger, this project seeks to examine and alter the narrative of women’s presence within the urban night. And In doing so identify what treasures or transformations are being lost through women’s exclusion from certain spaces and times. Both walking and the night time environment have significant impacts on our physical health and wellbeing. This research will pay close attention to the effects of nightwalking on our emotions, physicality and imagination, and how women's wellbeing may be intrinsically connected to the practice of nightwalking This research will also include artists, Nina Santes, Jan-Ming Lee, Katsura Isobe and Ann-Marie Fairbrother, to test and discuss nightwalking scores developed.
For a creative essay on this research visit: https://hannahrosesullivan.substack.com/p/night-walker