Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast

About Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast

Fermynwoods Contemporary Art is an educational charity and arts organisation that supports life through art. We commission innovative and meaningful ways for visual artists to engage with audiences, in public spaces across Northamptonshire and online. Our podcast is an experimental space for the display and creation of contemporary art which is fully accessible from people's homes, featuring original sound art, artist discussions, audio essays, video content and more.

Publisher

Fermynwoods Contemporary Art

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 May 2020

Latest episode

20 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

35 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Mar 2026

   Fermynwoods Podcast 32 – Sapphire Goss

   The final episode of the Love + Light season of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast is a new audio work by regular Fermynwoods collaborator, artist Sapphire Goss. Entitled Light Sensitive Materials, the luminescence we are so accustomed to seeing in her video work, is transubstantiated into audible vibrations, offering a rare insight into how light, dark, and everything-in-between might sound. The name comes from an old chemical company in the former USSR/Ukraine – SVEMA – an abbreviation which translates to light-sensitive materials in Russian. The first 8mm Sapphire shot was an expired film from the SVEMA factory in what is now Ukraine (Shostka Reel, 2022). This audio work is created with the sonification of film reels – in essence, taking their luminance and creating audio from them. Within this sensitive process, using software she has dubbed, the Celluloid Synthesiser, Sapphire could adjust parameters like tone and pitch to compose the desired effects and sounds. One of the most fascinating things about this audio is that many of the sounds come from holes punched at the end of film reels, the black at the edge of frames, and scratches and dust. These are then mixed with a selection of field recordings on tape and audio samples from the USC optical sound effects library. The result is a haunting and complex body of sounds which explore every aspect of light and dark, the extractive origins and realities of film processing, death and decay, and so much more. "Listening back is very mysterious, a very oblique look at a period where I was unhinged, off-kilter and probably in a lot of pain. My mind has blocked that out for now like so many decayed reels. Fog, disintegration, decay: erasure is a protection sometimes as well as a loss. Material, personal, global. This feels like something I have unearthed rather than made. The last reveries of dying worlds." Sapphire Goss https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-32-sapphire-goss/ (https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-32-sapphire-goss/) (https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-32-sapphire-goss/)

2. 

   24 Jan 2026

   Fermynwoods Podcast 31 - Luke Jerram, Dan Jones & Siobhan Currie

   In this episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast, we hear a layered soundscape of voices responding to fire and forest sparked by Tipping Point (https://fermynwoods.org/tipping-point-luke-jerram/), a powerful artwork by internationally renowned artist Luke Jerram, presented by Fermynwoods Contemporary Art in September 2025 in Hazel and Thoroughsale Woods — the largest ancient urban woodland in the UK — at the heart of Corby town centre, Northamptonshire. Originally conceived as a response to the escalating global wildfire crisis, Tipping Point simulated the terrifying realities of forest fires using immersive light, smoke and sound. Set within the woodland itself, the installation transformed a familiar local landscape into an unsettling and moving encounter with environmental breakdown. Central to the work is a bespoke soundtrack by multi-award-winning composer Dan Jones, incorporating the crackling of burning trees, whirring chainsaws and fleeing animals, alongside ambient, melancholic music and deeply affecting global testimonies from people who have experienced wildfires first-hand. Dan was kind enough to share a selection of these sounds, which have been specially edited into this episode. Woven through the episode are interviews with Luke Jerram and Fermynwoods Trustee (https://fermynwoods.org/board/) and Climate Psychologist Siobhan Currie, alongside audio reflections recorded with visitors as they experienced the installation. Together, these voices explore how art can engage emotional, psychological and collective responses to the climate crisis, creating space for reflection, connection and action. Headphones are recommended for the best listening experience. If you have been moved by Tipping Point (https://fermynwoods.org/tipping-point-luke-jerram/) and want to take some positive environmental action, please consult the resources here (https://fermynwoods.org/what-next/).

3. 

   3 Oct 2025

   Fermynwoods Podcast 30 - Tobias Zehntner, George Turvey & Chad Chadwick

   In this episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast we hear from a trinity of voices - artist Tobias Zehntner, composer George Turvey, and curate Chad Chadwick - discussing place, community, spirituality and creation in relation to Tobias' Halo installation, shown at the Grade I listed Anglo Saxon, All Saints Church, Earls Barton in April 2025. Originally commissioned in the Abbaye de la Cambre, Belgium, Halo features a suspended light installation that creates a moving interplay of light and shadow that illuminates the church’s architecture and forms halos above the audience. Woven into these conversations are 6 new pieces of music composed by George in response to the artwork, portraying the arrival of light, new beginnings, and the recurring circle of notes in the music mimicking the hypnotic swinging of the installation. These compositions originally accompanied the work for the Halo launch event in All Saints, Earls Barton. Chad broadens the discussion with fascinating insights into the nature of play as a spiritual discipline. The accompanying visual is a video response to the episode, by artist Sapphire Goss. https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-30-halo

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

21,237

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

35

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

68

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.