B.

Rhythm Sticks

Behind the scenes

In this photo of Officers Point in the Port of Lyttelton you can see where Thomas Cane's Timeball Station (1876) stood proudly for over 130 years.

Image

It's the grassy area on the hill to the left. But what intrigues me even more about this scene is the ridiculously long piles being driven into the harbour bed. The constant metallic percussive sound of the heavy weight being dropped by the crane operator onto the piles is a sound that resonates loudly right round the harbour basin throughout the day. It's probably enough to drive any Lyttelton resident up the wall but to my ears, as a passing visitor to the area, the scale and projection of this percussion noise was amazing. Just downright outrageous on the one hand and absolutely intriguing on the other. I don't know if it's sound art but it comes pretty close in my books.