- Mendip hills National Landscape
- Nature Calling: VIVO
Nature Calling: VIVO
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View In: The immersive sound experience
Enter a unique immersive soundscape exploring the landscape, plants, people and wildlife of the Mendip Hills and Weston-super-Mare.
Through poems, interviews, field recordings and tree biosonification, the audio traces through layers of time, soil, stone and roots to reveal the ancestors of the caves, the dying song of the ash trees (watch the Ash Lament being recorded here), and the birds of the plateau. Hear the song of the ghost of Charterhouse, the bells of Blagdon church, the tales of a Mendip storyteller, and the voices of children from Weston. All of the sounds were recorded in Weston or the Mendip Hills; a glossary of words can be found below.
The sound experience took place in a disused shop in The Sovereign Centre, Weston in July 2025. It can now be experienced from the comfort of your own home!
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Listen to the soundscape online
Pop on some headphones and prepare to be transported – click below or here to listen (running time 39 mins).
You can also hear from the artists about the making of the piece through a 20 mins podcast on Spotify.
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View Out: The trails
Augmented reality nature trails of audio and animated illustrations were installed at three different locations across South Ward in Weston, Uphill and on the Mendip Hills near Winscombe. Each had the same content at 5 ‘sound stops’ and people were encouraged to visit one or more and explore nature!
You can still listen to the audio and find out more about the animals featured by clicking here…
The sound stop signs were green circles showing an amazing animal that lives in the Mendip Hills. A free app on smart phones enabled people to watch the animal come to life as audio played.
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Meet the artists
‘View In, View Out’ (VIVO) is a collaboration between acclaimed composer, lyricist and performer Gwyneth Herbert, highly-regarded sound artist and beatboxer Jason Singh, and award-winning TV producer and nature interpreter Chris Howard – produced by Sound UK.
Together they have worked with local communities in Weston-super-Mare to create a multi-disciplinary commission of words, voices and nature recordings, from the town and throughout the Mendip Hills. Hear from the artists about the making of the piece through a podcast on Spotify.
The Trail illustrations and animations were created by Fabric Lenny from drawings by participants of the Mendip Hills National Landscape nature & wellbeing group.
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Involving the community
The team has spent time meeting, gathering and listening with a variety of groups across Weston. The project launched with an “eat and greet” in Oldmixon – a chance to connect with people in their neighbourhood – drawing, chatting, sharing tunes, food and words.
Through walks and workshops, local people have explored nature on their doorstep and shared what nature means to them. This happened both before the View In piece was created and after as part of the View Out trails. There have been trips on top of the Mendip Hills and underneath them!
In addition, interviews, field recordings, research and writing sessions have all taken place – weaving all this together for the final piece. You can view the film at the top of this page to find out more.
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Meet the Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills National Landscape is nationally-protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The stunning landscape with its fantastic views, steep slopes and undulating plateau, punctuated by spectacular gorges and rocky outcrops, spans from the edge of Weston-super-Mare in the west, to the city of Wells in the east.
The area is rich in archaeology and nature – find out more about the amazing animals featured in the audio trails here.
The Mendip Way recreational trail offers a chance for people to explore the area through farmland and the Mendip National Nature Reserve, right on the doorstep of Weston.
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Glossary of Mendip words used in the piece
Bibber: shiver
Bladderment: noisy talk
Byes: corners of the fields not reached by the plough
Dimpsy: twilight / dusk
Dung belly: a big coward
Gooseflop: daffodil
Gruffy ground: the bumpy ground formed by the remains of old mine workings
Mammy gog: a spoilt child
Old man: the oldest tree in an orchard, e.g. an oak or a yew
Rabblement: a mob of roughs
Rampin: raving mad
Spuddling: to cause an argument or trouble
Vuxpig: hedgehog
A National Season of Art in National Landscapes
Nature Calling was a ground-breaking national project, amplifying new voices and creating innovative artwork in collaboration with communities close to National Landscapes. National Landscapes are places for everyone.
A season of art took place across the country between May and October 2025 – find out more on the national Nature Calling website.
‘View In, View Out’ (VIVO)
Commissioned by the Mendip Hills National Landscape Team and the National Landscapes Association as part of Nature Calling, in partnership with Activate Performing Arts and Poetry School.
Produced by Super Culture and Sound UK.
Funded by Arts Council England, Defra, and the Mendip Hills National Landscape Team.
All photos taken by Paul Blakemore.
“This collaboration has already brought me so much joy and learning. As artists and humans, we have met each other through our journeys in the land together, and we have met the landscape through each other’s languages. I feel so much more connected to the spaces and people in and around my new hometown and I am looking forward to deepening connections with the community through the next phase of making. It feels now to me that the work has developed a voice of its own, inviting us to follow threads of discovery – more will be revealed, as Nature is Calling us on…”
Gwyneth Herbert, VIVO artist