Leduc 2 is being presented at Soundasaurus, the festival within a festival put on by the Epcore Center for the Performing Arts during the High Performance Rodeo.
Leduc 2 is a sound piece that sonifies the production data from significant Alberta wells.
For good or bad, the petroleum industry shaped the history and economy of Alberta and to an extent Canada. The Alberta government requires all oil and gas producers to regularly report data and as such has accumulated over 50 years of history of oil and gas in the province. The Leduc field (which starting with the famous Leduc 1 well) is important because before finding this well the industry had drilled about 1000 wells with only a small amount producing any oil or gas. The Turner Valley discovery was running out and despite attempts, nothing new of any importance had been discovered. Prior to striking oil in the Leduc area in the late 1940s, Imperial Oil had drilled a record 133 dry wells in a row.
The piece Leduc 2 honours this position and the rich history offered by the industry in the province. As in every well’s history and in every field, the monthly cumulative production changes over time, dropping off to nothing in some months and ramping up in others. The factors for this change can be anything from changing pressures underground to changing economic pressures. Visitors can listen to the history of the field communicated through the sound of pouring liquid.
This piece can take many forms. It is a generative piece that can be ‘performed’ live or it can be pre-recorded. There are vast amounts of data and as such, it is a very flexible piece. For instance, it can play a single well or an entire field depending on time constraints. It can be presented in the form most appropriate to the space and time available, from an intimate sole experience via headphones, to a group shared experience to simply background waiting to be discovered by those attentive enough. Leduc 2 is an ambient sound piece using data from the Leduc field, with oil played then gas. The final piece is about 18 minutes.
Here are some links for more information about the event.
http://genxevent.com/EventDetail.aspx?id=1214
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184026567820&index=1
http://www.hprodeo.ca/2010/soundasaurus-night-2
http://tickets.epcorcentre.org/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=859
http://www.avenuecalgary.com/node/47775
When will this happen? Thursday January 21, 2010
