Immersive Watergrove - Sophie Cooper and Babs Smith
Immersive Watergrove is an outdoor, site specific work exploring themes of climate change, water usage, local history and new technology found at Watergrove Reservoir in Wardle, Greater Manchester.
This is the first collaboration between Cooper and Smith bringing together their separate practices of augmented reality and sound design to create a completely unique, audio-visual experience to be situated around Watergrove Reservoir over August 2023. This project is also supported by Ebor Studio in Littleborough who will host an in-house exhibition of the work to coincide with the on-location installation.
Immersive Watergrove aims to highlight the very visual and real effects of climate change on the area’s water supply inspired by the reappearance of the former community’s remnants during the drought of 2022. By positioning four viewing posts around the reservoir visitors will be invited to observe the site by using an app called Artivive that will trigger augmented reality images and sound highlighting four topics associated with each location.
More details about the project can be found here: immersivewatergroveblog.wordpress.com
The work has been kindly supported by Help Musicians, Culture Co-op Rochdale, United Utilities, Arts Council England: Creative People and Places and Ebor Studio.
Many thanks to the Wardle local history society, Alex Jako, Greg Bond, Kara Lyons and Jake Blanchard for their support and work on this project. Biggest shout out of thanks to my collaborator, Babs Smith, for conceiving the idea in the first place and for being brilliant to work with.
