A sonic map of the artwork and cosmos, Yird Muin Starn is at once funny, moving and informative, surging from singing to hymnal pockets of throbbing space where scale is both tiny and boundless'. The third element in their new public artwork 'Yird Muin Starn' (old Scots for Earth Moon Star) this album ofcosmological songs and sonified constellations is Matthews McIntosh second space related release. Composed and engineered by Matthews from field recordings gathered all over the Galloway forest then processed using star data of regularly seen constellations, we also hear a breathless account of the Possilmeteorite, (the only meteorite ever recorded landing in Scotland), a song about photons, a song about the depiction of the genitalia of humans on the Pioneer Plaque, and an ode to Neil Armstrong. The tunes were created using an Elka organ and fiddle together with the sonification of constellation data so producing swathes of electroacoustic noise and textures. With cosmological lyrics written by McIntosh inspired by the likes of Hamish Imlach and Matt McGinn, it's a thrilling development in the long term collaboration of these undefinable artists.
Yird Muin Starn is situated in the Galloway Forest, SW Scotland, Europe's first Dark Sky Park. Due to its location, size and shelter from local urban light pollution the park hosts some of the most astonishing and pristine views of the cosmos. It is also a working forest and supplies 1/6th of the UK's timber.McIntosh and Matthews have worked in conjunction with the Forestry Commission Scotland for almost two years to develop this work, which has been supported by Creative Scotland through the Vital Spark award scheme. It'sthree elements together combine to celebrate the Dark Sky Park as a gateway to the universe and facilitate its enjoyment in real terms. Making Spacesuits for environmental comfort, Sky Gazer chairs for reclined contemplation, and this vinyl Album of space inspired music and songs, the trinity of works link together to form an interactive whole for anyone, each interlocking with the other but also functioning in isolation. The 15 Galloway Spacesuits were designed to give maximum warmth and comfort to the wearer in the coldest of places (observing the stars requires hours of no movement), each one being a unique garmentfabricated from McIntosh's screen prints on Ventile fabric. Formerly a studio designer at KENZO, Paris with a background in fashion and textiles, McIntosh developed the suits from samurai warrior undergarments creating the fabric designs from her many space related drawings and paintings using both traditional and digital techniques. From studying nebula, asteroids, stellar radio transmissions and white noise, she also interviewed Scottish astronomer Duncan Lunan and astrophysicist Martin Hendry. Ventile was developed for RAF pilots inWW2 and has been used in expeditions to Everest. Within the padded spacesuits, Aerotherm panels, developed for NASA astronauts, have also been inserted. The Three Sky Gazer chairs are inspired by a Victorian astronomer's chair at Greenwich observatory which reclines the body to a specific viewing position. The chairs, made by Robin Wood using 4m slabs of green oak cut from one tree, are sunk 1.8m into the ground on the hill by White Laggan bothy and jointed using traditional Japanese doweling techniques. Gazing skywards in different directions, they sit as a trinity of objects their striking and functional form springing out from the land as you climb to the bothy shelter. Yird Muin Starn is also inspired by the Bothy movement in Scotland and aims to encourage all people deeper into nature. The Galloway Spacesuits launched from Black Loch and CatStrand, New Galloway on 2nd February 2013 and are now in the public domain for forest sky gazing use. The Sky Gazers will launch at White Laggan bothy, beside Loch Dee on March 23rd. The seats are permanentlypositioned, but the suits will change hands.