Author Archive | jmkendall

Great George

The Bell Named ’Great George’, the bell in the Wills Tower is, on one hand, the very embodiment of solidity and strength and a cultural object of high status and historical value, but on the other hand is just another synthesis of rock and iron that is worn by sun and wind and will tremble with vibration from natural forces. If you haven’t already been on the weekly Saturday tour, […]

Continue Reading

Bell – tests in the tower

Tests in the Tower With the help of James Wookey and Anna Horleston a seismometer has been set up in the Wills Tower so we can record what seismic or urban activity is vibrating and shaking the bell in the 215 feet tall Wills Tower. ‘A Day In The Life Of Great George ’ could be shown, […]

Continue Reading

The unsettled planet

The Unsettled Planet is a project funded by the Brigstow Institute, that will bring together a diverse group of researchers from the arts, humanities, and science – addressing the Brigstow theme of ‘living well with uncertainty’.  Michael Kendall will be working with Shirley Pegna, whose artistic research and practice is concerned with sound as material, together with Tamsin Badcoe (Department of […]

Continue Reading

Crossing the line

This cruise has been a bit unusual in that we transited the equator four times, and, given our proximity to the vernal equinox, we jumped between all four seasons. As exciting as this is from both a geographical and celestial point of view, I hadn’t appreciated the naval significance of ‘crossing the line’. I soon […]

Continue Reading

The wildlife at sea

I have been at sea for over 3 weeks now and have seen very little of anything beyond the ship. As our internet connection is barely working, I am feeling a bit cut off from the outside world. In contrast, I have never been so aware of my immediate surroundings. We are constantly monitoring things […]

Continue Reading

Fishing for OBSs

Sometimes things don’t always go as to plan. We arrived at site I04D at 15:00, quickly establishing communication with the OBMT and the OBS. The OBMT was on its way to the surface with an ETA of 17.50 – all was going well. After surveying in the location of the OBS and sending an acoustic […]

Continue Reading

Le OBS

France has a rich history of working in the oceans, collecting some of the longest tidal records available, for example. During our voyage, we happened to pass the French research ship the “Pourquoi Pas?” off the west coast of Africa. The Institut de Physique du Globe in Paris (IPGP) runs geophysical observatories that monitor earthquake […]

Continue Reading