On 12 May 2022, Will Montgomery gave a joint online presentation with US poet CAConrad at the invitation of the Nottingham Contemporary Gallery. The event, entitled Sounding Ritual: (Soma)tics and Acoustics, was part of the gallery’s Five Bodies 2022 series. In preparation for the event, Will embarked on a circular walk in the Sussex downland area between Cissbury and Chanctonbury Rings, which is a few miles from his home.
Will’s experience of the walk was enlarged and amplified by various texts, including two poems from CAConrad’s recent book Amanda Paradise, two by Emily Dickinson, and writing by French sound theorist François Bonnet and anthropologist Tim Ingold (a key figure for Walking in Air). Issues explored in Will’s earlier Walking in Air activities – environment, breath, collectivity, attention – took on a new aspect in this solo walk. Full recording of the event. Will’s presentation starts at 5’00 and finishes at 28’00
