Pluvilore
Designer-Researcher: Alice Stevens
Audio Artist: Dr Tom Davis
Creative Technologist: Mark Benson
Year: 2025
Funding: Supported by HEIF through AUB Innovation Studio
Pluvilore is an immersive sound installation featuring twelve large audio umbrellas that hold memories of rain — turning the often private experience of being in rain into part of a wider cultural dialogue.
The name Pluvilore, pronounced ploo-vee-lore, comes from pluvia (Latin for rain) and lore (stories). Simply put, it means rain stories — the shared stories of rain.
These memories, recorded from people living, working, or studying in Bournemouth, reveal how rain can be experienced not as an inconvenience, but as an active, sensory presence. Through these short stories, rain invites curiosity, and moments of joy arise in everyday experiences. Rain becomes a creative playground, encouraging spontaneity, and sensory immersion.
Showcased at Arts by the Sea Festival in Bournemouth (2025), participants were invited to gather in listening circles beneath the umbrellas, and experience the memories as part of a collective public performance, whilst prompting them to consider more relational ways of living with rain.
Through the Rain
Voices and stories that reveal rain differently
Over 80 rain memories were gathered from people living, working, or studying in Bournemouth. Participants came from diverse backgrounds which offered a wide range of perspectives. These personal accounts provide intimate reflections on rain as well as social, cultural, and historical insights, encouraging a deeper appreciation of wet weather. When compiled, the variety of themes that emerged begin to suggest a new narrative of rain — one in which language recognises rain’s agency and its role in both experience and ecology, moving away from the evaluative binary of ‘only sunny weather is good’ (Stibbe, 2019).
Listening to Rain
An immersive soundscape of memories and rainfall
Collaborating with audio artist Dr Tom Davis, we organised the memories into four themes, with different umbrellas carrying distinct collections: personal shifts (rain that changes us); rain that brings us together (shared joy and connection); rain as creative playground (play, freedom, and spontaneity); and rain and the more-than-human (rain’s effects on the environment and awareness beyond the self).
Tom brought a conceptual approach to the audio, shaping how the memories could be heard through rain as part of an embodied experience. He created a sonic landscape of subtle environmental rain sounds, fragments of weather memories and sounds derived from these fragments creating an immersive soundscape that situates each story within a wider sensory and ecological context. This is supplemented by piano music also composed by Tom which helps add to the notion of nostalgia and reflection. Participants are invited not only to hear the memories but to experience them as part of an embodied encounter with rain. You are invited to listen to the audio tracks below and experience these rain memories for yourself:
Creative Technology
Engineering umbrellas to carry sound and memories
Mark Benson, creative technologist, brought the audio umbrellas to life. The main challenge was designing a system light enough to be suspended inside an umbrella, yet powerful enough to deliver clear sound outdoors. Early plans to trigger playback with rain sensors were abandoned, as this risked participants missing the memories if it didn’t rain during the two-day festival. Instead, the audio plays when an umbrella is opened, ensuring it works in any weather.
For budgetary and environmental reasons, Mark repurposed speaker units originally developed for Welly Walks, adapting rather than building new. He refactored the code for simple one-button control and playback and added a low profile membrane button to each umbrella, giving participants control over volume and the option to switch the audio off. This feature, informed by feedback from Welly Walks, improves accessibility for people with different hearing abilities.
Practical concerns of safety and durability were also addressed. Mark 3D-printed robust yellow casings to protect the lithium batteries and electronics, and an iterative process of building, testing, and refining ensured the technology remained reliable yet relatively discreet. This approach supports the embodied experience of rain, allowing the memories and soundscape to be the focus.
Creative Process
From sketchbooks to immersive rain experiences
I had been toying with the idea of using umbrellas in my work for some time — not only do they provide shelter, but they embody a familiar visual vernacular of rain that is instantly recognisable.
Pluvilore developed through a combination of Rainworlding methods and sketchbook experimentation. I had been gathering rain memories for another installation, but after being invited to present at Arts by the Sea Festival, I decided to trial the project and use umbrellas. At this point, the work took on a more performative element and, through the practicalities of the event, the idea of a collective public listening circle emerged, facilitated by movement artists.
The 2025 Arts by the Sea Festival theme, WE ARE HERE, connected naturally with the work: the memories were gathered from people living, working, or studying in Bournemouth, and so provided not only a sense of presence but also of place, and of shared, collective experience.
Journaling, drawing, and ideation are a core part of my process. The following images are selected pages from my sketchbook, offering a glimpse into the development of ideas that shaped Pluvilore:
Reimagining Life with Rain
Workshops as research gathering
Alongside the listening circle of audio umbrellas, workshops formed a parallel strand of activity, supported by students from Arts University Bournemouth. They provided opportunities to speak directly with the public about what rain means to them, gather new memories for future project iterations, and explore how rain is felt and expressed. For younger audiences, participants created rain clouds representing their reflections on how rain makes them feel and what it means to them.
For this project, I adopted a simplified approach to research and data gathering, prioritising dialogue and creative activity over questionnaires as used in previous festivals. This approach allowed participants’ words, actions, and imaginative responses to shape the research and generate insights that will inform the wider development of my work. I am currently reviewing and analysing responses but the images below include a few selected photos from the workshops along with a gallery of rain clouds produced during the festival by participants.
Conversations in the Rain
What people said about engaging with Pluvilore
Pluvilore drew an enthusiastic response at Arts by the Sea Festival. The bright yellow umbrellas and waterproofs caught attention, sparking curiosity and inviting people to take part. Participants shared memories of rain, often finding common ground in their stories, and many said it encouraged them to see rainy weather in a new light. The installation created a lively space for conversation, reflection, and playful re-engagement with the weather.
“Pluvilore was a striking addition to Arts by the Sea Festival, intriguing audiences with unexpected innovation and sparking thoughtful discussion. It appealed to all ages, generated positive feedback, and helped make our Green Hub a lively and engaging space”.
- Nuala Clarke, Festival's Cultural Engagement Officer, BCP Council
Rain Cloud Gallery
An exhibition of rain clouds created by participants
Developing the Workshops
Below is a selection of sketchbook process pages showing the prompts, activities, and early ideas that shaped the workshops.
Share Your Rain Memory
Please get in touch if you would like to contribute your own rain memory or drawing to the Pluvilore archive. Your stories will support the next project iteration and help reveal new ways of living with wet weather in a changing climate.