Thanks to a friend with a car I spent yesterday at Belsay Hall, a beautiful country house estate about half an hour from Newcastle. The property, now owned by English Heritage, has no interior furnishings due to historical neglect. This means you can see the original, rather lovely Georgian architecture. But it also means the hall is a big, echoey space. Which brings me to The Yellow Wallpaper.
The artist Susan Philipsz produced a sound installation inspired, in part, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic ghost story. She also references 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' and 'The Turn of the Screw'. However, her installation consists entirely of recordings of the artist singing one of the Border Ballads, 'The Unquiet Grave'. The sound is funnelled down chimneys into rooms in the house.
I was not very impressed. A tourist attraction in July is bound to be quite noisy as people walk around and, inevitably, talk. This made the atmosphere unsuitable to enjoy what was presumably intended to be a haunting experience. In fact the singing sounded better outside the hall, where the artist's voice is just audible beneath the sounds of birdsong and wind in the trees. The idea behind the installation may be good, but the venue is simply unsuitable for it.
Still, it was a nice day out. Belsay's gardens are extensive, very beautiful, and offer splendid views. I can heartily recommend a visit. The hall and estate are the true works of art. Oh, and there's a ruined castle as well.
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