The making of IWM Duxford's DX17
Nick Ryan: “I'm Nick Ryan, I'm a sound artist and I was invited by Duxford to create a new work to celebrate the centenary of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. I've created a sound installation based around a sculpture called DX17. DX17 Is an audio sculpture and at its core is a sculptural object which is inspired by a hybrid of aircraft shapes found in aircraft at Duxford. Inside the sculpture are 100 lights. You can see one of them beside me here. And these lights are actually transmitting the thoughts and memories of 100 different people who've worked at Duxford. Visitors are given a small handheld device or receiver, and they can walk around the sculpture, touch the receiver onto the surface of the sculpture, and tune to the memories of a hundred different people whose lives have been influenced by Duxford.”
2017 marks the centenary of Imperial War Museums and 100 years since work began to create RAF Duxford. To commemorate the centenary of the aircraft base that became IWM Duxford, renowned multi-disciplinary artist and composer Nick Ryan was commissioned to create the site's inaugural contemporary art installation, DX17.
Inspired by themes of flight and innovation, DX17 is a spectacular and imaginative storytelling device that helps tell the stories of some of the men and women who lived and worked at Duxford from the last 100 years.
A futuristic and aerodynamic large-scale sculpture that's almost the same size as a Spitfire, the installation engages visitors in a tactile journey to discover 100 memories from Duxford’s remarkable past and present by revealing narrative fragments, voices, sound, signals, moments, stories or anecdotes.
In this video, Ryan talks more about his latest installation and what inspired him to create DX17.
