Paso

Paso was a barefoot spatial sound experience that remembered the chalk land bridge that once connected Britain to France until its destruction due to a catastrophic flood due to climate change 450,000 years ago. It was a crucial migration route that brought the first land creatures, including the first early humans, into Britain. The collapse of the landbridge was Brexit 1.0 and created Britain as the island we know it today.

Participants were invited to take off their shoes, put on a pair of headphones that know your location in the space and walk barefoot over a large rectangular expanse of soil. As you cross the landscape, you encounter areas with different sounds and underfoot temperature transporting you through the history of the land bridge and the animals that inhabited it.

The space was dimly lit by ground level light constantly fluctuating in intensity and colour and there were sections of the ground that were heated from beneath.

We designed Paso as a sensual, non-human-centred storytelling experience, in which people could slow down, attend to their senses of listening and touch, and imagine the possibility that the most solid landmarks that furnish our reality will disappear.

The exhibition is intended to be a friendly space, designed for blind, visually-impaired and sighted visitors alike, and adaptable to access needs.