The Noise of the Mayflower

The Noise of the Mayflower is a piece of aural research about the Mayflower crossing in 1620, an event whose historical ‘signals’ are still heard today in discussions about colonialism and national identity. But what about noise? Can we still hear the noise that the pilgrims experienced at sea, the noise of the Mayflower ship, or the sound of spoken language in the 17th century?

Join Radio Anti as they approach the historical legacies and contemporary meanings of the Mayflower crossing through its noisy elements: the sea, the ship, and the settlers.

In three themed podcasts, Matt and Ross play a mixture of music, Youtube videos and audio recordings, to explore the meaning of noise and by analogy, the meaning of historical events such as the Mayflower crossing, and offer alternative interpretations through sound.

How does the messy, un-reachable reality of an historical event become a simplified national myth, or a neat parable about democracy? How does noise become signal?

In an installation in Southwark Park Galleries’ Bermondsey Bothy, Radio Anti’s noisy research material plays out on two screens with sound. The noise is left to ‘speak for itself’ via long playlists of soundscape videos. This sometimes creates a relaxing, ambient soundscape, and at other times a jagged, interruptive audio experience. The walls of the Bothy are covered in printed material – generic desktop background style seascapes and HDR photography of stormy seas, occasionally interrupted by images of 17th century ships, colonial settlers, and stock images of people relaxing whilst listening to headphones.

The Noise of the Mayflower is generously supported by the Southwark Mayflower 400 Grants Fund from Southwark Council, British Land and United St Saviours.