Sea Swim was an iMove Cultural Olympiad project, based out of Scaborough, directed by Lara Goodband and John Wedgwood Clarke. Damian started off on as a novice sea swimmer on the August bank holiday weekend in 2011 but, having worked with Lara previously on a number of arts projects, then became involved in helping to deliver part of the arts programme. He worked on two pieces for the exhibitions that were presented at various venues across the North East throughout 2012, and was Artist in Residence in the Sea Swim beach huts for a weekend in August 2012.
The first piece was a soundtrack to the Sea Swim film that documented the project, and was based on the stories of the sea swimmers as told by themselves, backed by the sound of the sea and the music of Boccherini as arranged and played by Damian. Mark played an integral role in gathering the interviews from the Sea Swimmers themselves, based on methods established during the Me, Myself and MRI project. The final film was edited by James Malone and directed by Lara Goodband.
The second piece “74s” places swimmers treading water against the cold, shifting horizons of the North Sea. This more abstract piece reflects the achievement of Captain Webb – the first Channel Swimmer – in his feat of treading water in Scarborough Bay for 74 hours. The soundtrack here is based on the sounds of the sea and the Scarborough Coast. Once again, edited by James and directed and shot by Lara and John.
Two versions of the final Sea Swim film soundtrack are available on Soundcloud. The Sea Swim project continues – visit their webpage for more information.
