Standing Ground is an immersive installation by Urban Projections and composer CJ Mirra, developed during a residency with the Harley Foundation on the Welbeck Estate. The project explores listening as a way of connecting with the natural environment, using sound and light to bring attention to systems that often sit in the background.

The work was developed through a collaborative process involving artists, scientists and community participants. Working with ecologist Simon Pickles, zine artist Harry Hempsall, and participants from Aebal Care and Support Services, the group spent time in a 16th-century woodland recording and observing the environment. Using microphones and cameras, they gathered material that focused on small, easily overlooked details - shifting attention towards listening and presence.

These field recordings form the basis of the sound work, where natural textures are processed and layered with electronic elements. Percussive snaps, low-frequency movement and extended tones are shaped into a score that moves between recognisable and abstract.

Visually, the project draws on Welbeck’s veteran trees - long-standing markers within the landscape. Archival material from the 19th century was used as a starting point for a series of evolving visuals, developed with young artists from the Proto-Type Collective using generative-led processes.

Standing Ground creates a slowed, reflective environment, where sound and image work together to hold attention on the act of listening - offering space to consider our relationship to the environments we move through.