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Sonorama app by artist Claudia Molitor brings Kent landscape to life from Southeastern train window

As you stare at the landscape whizzing past the train window, have you ever wondered about the stories behind the passing towns and fields?

A new audio artwork by composer and artist Claudia Molitor may just answer your questions in the handy form of an iPhone app.

As you hurtle down the tracks, Sonorama plays collected interviews, readings and material from British library archives recounting the history of the landscape along the High Speed route from St Pancras to Margate.

Watch: Hear your journey with Sonorama

Claudia has been working for over two years on the 90-minute piece with historian David Hendy and British Library curator Cheryl Tipp to accompany the journey.

She said: “I chose Margate because with the high speed route there is a real disconnect between the inside and outside of the train and with Turner Contemporary displaying the score at the other end it is a nice place to get to.

“Different sections of the journey display different views, before Ashford it is quite an industrial area and the readings throughout the journey relate to the passenger’s view out of the window.

“It’s definitely art and it explores different influences on our cultures, but it’s also about re-evaluating what it means to be on the journey rather than it being more of an annoyance before the destination.

“Listening to Sonorama whilst looking out of the train window invites the audience to reflect on their own relationship to the journey and their experience of being in the world.”

High Speed trains are delayed
High Speed trains are delayed
Turner Contemporary, Margate
Turner Contemporary, Margate

Turner Contemporary head of exhibitions Sarah Martin said: “Turner Contemporary is delighted to be collaborating with Claudia Molitor and Electra on this unique and ground-breaking project.

“Developing a platform for work that crosses over between visual arts, performance, sound art and musical composition has been a strength of our programme to date and Sonorama maintains this commitment, taking it to a new level of ambition.”

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