Literature Review
This project was guided by the review of 14 international medical research papers which explore the effects of sound within hospitals. These papers tell us that the soundscapes of our hospital spaces are having adverse effects on recovery - the very purpose of the hospital itself.
We created a document that reviewed these papers and which acted as a background to explain the reasons behind the project, and to justify the placement of an artist, as a researcher, within the critical areas of a hospital.
Acoustic Engineer Shane Fahey collaborated with Vic McEwan to review and comment upon this past research. Read the Research Review here.
Coming Soon
4 Page Booklet
Having collected over 70,000 calibrated scientific measurements
within Alder Hey Children's Hospital, the team then generated a four page document for the purpose of having an active resource in hospitals internationally.
This document gives a clear and well laid out overview of issues around sound in hospitals, including evidence and practical advice on what people can do to incorporate thinking about sound into daily activities in the hospital space.
This document can be downloaded and used as a resource and we encourage people to contact us to discuss the document and to provide any feedback.
Coming Soon
Project Essay
As a four year process that engaged deeply with illness, healing, and death, as well as ideas around sound ecology, the agency of patients and families, hierarchies within hospitals, and the value of the artist within these real life challenges, The Harmonic Oscillator has many stories to share about the artistic process, the methods used, and the evolving nature of working in this way.
Vic McEwan has written a paper that outlines not only the theoretical reasons for this project, but also something of a journal, examining the process of working in a hospital space as an artist, confronted by issues of life and death and the resulting emotional journey this creates, combined with the need for both artistic and practical outcomes.