BEN BRANAGAN


Sketch For a Garden
Artist in residence project for Sono Electro Festival 2025



 Inspired by the planned community garden at Electro Studios, Sketch for a Garden was a collaborative installation that explored the garden as a space to collect, cultivate and grow. Led by artist Ben Branagan, the participatory project was developed for the 2025 Sono Electro Festival. Occupying the landing gallery and proposed rooftop garden space, the project connected the festival site to its surrounding landscape through community workshops and an evolving mixed-media installation, created with local students, artists, and the festival audience.

At the heart of the work were a series of colaborative cyanotype prints — an early photographic process known for its deep blue tones — combining shadow-like impressions of natural forms with a soundscape built from field recordings gathered in the Coombe Valley Nature Reserve and nearby beachfront. Used in 19th-century botanical studies, the cyanotypes acted here as blueprints for a garden in the making, recording material gathered in the local area and suggesting what might follow. The installation evolved over the two-week festival, with local musicians and visitors invited in the second week to contribute musical responses to the emerging work, creating an ongoing dialogue between sound and image.

Participants: Suzzane Horgan, Gwen Oaten, Harry Sedgwick, Mary keast Butler, Iris Little, Amber Prust Jones, Sheffa Katz, Fina Bonett, TigerLily Lomax, Harley Hughes , Fin Mackenzie, Bruce Ingram, Nina Chakrabarti.
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Alice Denny
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Alice Denny
Photograph by Georgina Cook


Excerpt from sound instalation
Photograph by Alice Denny
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Alice Denny
Photograph by Georgina Cook
Photograph by Georgina Cook




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