For the fourth year in a row I have been invited to take part in Supernormal, the arts and music festival, which takes place from the 9th to the 11th of August at Brazier’s Park in Oxfordshire.
This year, rather than perform as part of improvising musical ensembles as in past editions of the festival, I will be showing two new artworks: a performative piece and a video work.
Stay tuned for more news.
Posted in gigs, gigs and events, performances and events, pieces
Here is a video of my MA class’ interim show, “Jack Harris: a retrospective”, which I curated (I was not responsible for the title which was voted in before I assumed curatorial duties… but I worked with it!):
[thanks: Julie for her assistance in the earliest stages of co-curatorial planning before she got too busy to be involved, Alison for her lighting help and general awesomeness, Nathan for his amazing tech skills, Saj for the beautiful flyer, Daniel and Jack for writing the press release, Leila for filming, and thanks to those who helped with grunt work setting up and taking down the show!]
It was a lot of work, but worth it!
I will be performing as part of a 14-piece ensemble at Tate Modern on the 3rd of May. The performance is part of the 3-day Symposium “Her Noise – Feminisms and the Sonic” which is organised by Electra and Crisap with Tate. We will perform Pauline Oliveros’ 1970 piece ” To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation” as part of a day dedicated to Oliveros, at which the composer will also be performing solo and giving a talk
More info in the flyer below and here.
Posted in performances and events
I will be playing on the 19th of February from 3.15pm to 4.45pm as part of the London Theremin Group, during the workshops section of the E.A.R electronic arts revue . Other members of the group, for this performance, will be Gordon Charlton, Leila Dear, Mike Buffington.
Many, many thanks to the amazing Gordon Charlton (aka Beat Frequency) for inviting me to play despite my being unable to attend the last two rehearsals of the group due to my academic engagements.
I don’t usually post about events I am taking part in anywhere except on private pages, but I thought I should maybe start doing so on this blog, so that I can tentatively begin to build a list of events I have taken part in, for archiving reasons, and so that I can see what I have done. I perform very frequently but have so far not kept a record of my performances with others — these are so frequent I do not tend to bother, and they vary wildly in seriousness, quality and amount of my involvement, though maybe I should begin documenting them, even if just out of curiosity, as I have noticed that most people I know document all of their performances in some way.
[edit: I did not take part in this particular event, in the end, due to it conflicting with other deadlines, but I still wonder whether I should begin documenting performances]
Posted in not research, performances and events
I am promoting a night called Uneasy Listening, which will be taking place on the 10th of August. See details below…
Yes, the mighty Uneasy Listening club is BACK!!!!
“As underground as a miner’s welly” (Marcelo Madrid)
“As underground as a minor’s willy” (Arthur Lager)
“…” (Gertie The Duck)
——————————————————————
This time, UNEASY LISTENING will be taking place at THE OTHERS,
6-8 Manor Road London N16 5SA. http://www.theothers.uk.com/
on tuesday the 10th of August 2010!!! (yes, even the date is exciting! No, really… that night there are going to be some amazing meteor showers!)
LIVE MUSIC PROVIDED BY:
ERGO PHIZMIZ & MARGITA ZALITE
http://ergophizmiz.net/
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ergo_Phizmiz_amp_Margita_Zalite
*drum roll*
Composer, artist, writer, DJ, collagist, pencil-maker (guess which one of these is made up?) Ergo Phizmiz is joined by friend Margita Zalite for a rare improv set possibly fueld by copious amounts of wine
BOLIDE Vs THE A BAND
http://www.myspace.com/bolideawkwardstra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A_band
The wonderful Brighton-based improv group Bolide take on the legendary A Band in call-and-response fashion. There will be no winners or losers. They are all in it for the thrill!!
“…umbrella…” (The Wire – A Band Article)
BEAT FREQUENCY
http://www.myspace.com/beatfrequencyuk
Theremin that sounds like “the cybernetic song of a cro-magnon siren ringing in the resonant chambers of your skull”
ON THE DECKS:
Gertie The Duck (nice & clean)
Marcelo Madrid (not nice but clean)
Arthur Lager (not nice & not clean)
Playing an eclectic selection of Avant-Retard* sounds.
AND FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY:
A Live performance by the amazing ALEXANDER WILLIAMS.
Expect the unexpected. DO NOT MISS!
*disclaimer – our DJs have been instructed thusly:
if people complain, dribble on them
Some of the things our DJs may still subject you to (depending on the DJ):
Caesar Romero, Ennio Morricone, The Residents, Les Baxter, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Negativland, Christian Marclay, This Heat, Arthur Lager, Philippe Sarde, Bernard Herrmann, Ilona Staller, Earth Creature, Claudine Longet, Alterations, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Wiseblood, Doo-Dooettes, Bruno Nicolai, Pinky & Perky, Terry Riley, Ferrante & Teicher, Little Marcy, J.G. Thirlwell, The Shangri-las, Wesley Willis, Carl Stone, Martin Rev, Mort Garson, Egisto Macchi, Jean-Claude Vannier, Faust, Yma Sumac, Ronald Stein, Raymond Scott, Gravediggaz, Rod Mckuen, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Tom Recchion, Shooby Taylor, Nurse With Wound, Little Princess Orchestra, Men Diamler, Vinicio Capossela, Meredith Monk, The Three Suns, Volcano The Bear, Bianchi & the Jungle Sextet, Wayne Newton, Robert Ashley, Diamanda Galas, Gregory Whitehead, Liberace, Bruce Haack, Serge Gainsbourg, Archie Shepp, Dr John, Alain Goraguer, Miles Davis, George “Bongo Joe” Coleman, Einstürzende Neubauten, Igor Wakhévitch, Black Dice, Jon Rose, Video Aventures, IRR.APP.(EXT.), Gang Gang Dance, John Oswald, Liars, Ergo Phizmiz, People Like Us, Teiji Ito, Captain Beefheart, Shelley Hirsch, Devo, James Chance and the Contortions, Annie Gosfield, Renaldo and the Loaf, The Monks, Can, Amon Duul, Amon Duul 2, Sand, Cluster, Steaming Coils, The Birthday Party, TG, Excepter, The Hafler Trio, Chrome, Kahondo Style
Posted in gigs, gigs and events, performances and events
The A Band are featured in this month’s (April 2010) Wire Tapper. The track we chose is an excerpt from one of our Edinburgh Fringe gigs from last summer, the most ghastly, appallingly lo-fi and dementedly annoying track we could possibly find. Or the best and most amazingly life-changing and life-affirming. You decide.
To add insult to injury (or awesomeness to utter amazingness), the picture used to accompany the track-listing features exclusively members of the band (including me) who were not present at the particular gig at which the recording of the Tapper track took place, and who at the time were unaware of the picture’s improvised future use (I know I was!).
A: “So, what’s the Tapper track like?”
G: “It’s… interesting…”
A: “Oh. Aren’t you glad your picture is so small?”
There’s no band like The A Band. I’m glad to be part of it.
Unknown Devices also get a brief mention in the reviews section, as well as a gorgeous panoramic photo of our performance in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern (if you have a magnifying glass at hand, you can spot me by my magenta hair…). It was an absolutely wonderful experience to be part of such a unique event, and the performance felt magical, to me, even though I was not particularly happy with my own contribution (but then again, I am highly self-critical!). I feel so incredibly lucky and grateful to have been given the chance to perform there, and with such utterly lovely, talented and passionate people, to boot!
Posted in performances and events
I will be playing with Unknown Devices this friday the 5th of march at Tate Britain.
Directed by David Toop, ‘Unknown Devices: The Laptop Orchestra’ is an improvising ensemble of students and alumni from London College of Communication.
As usual, we will be exploring “the dynamics, technical and interpersonal demands of group collaborations using digital audio tools and ‘unknown devices’, creating an improvisation using an unusual variety of instruments, noisemakers and gaming equipment.”
This one is going to be a bit special, due to the event’s theme, but I cannot say much more: you will just have to come along and hear/see for yourselves, as the event is once more free, free, FREE!
I absolutely adore this man and I make no secret of it:
Our performance is part of a larger series of performances taking place in several galleries throughout Tate Britain:
“Gaming culture takes over Tate Britain. From low-tech parlour games Charades and Werewolf, to performance and interactive media art with Blast Theory’s Can You See Me Now? Plus talks from Ste Curran and Simon Byron, and experimental music from David Toop and Unknown Devices: Laptop Orchestra – it’s all to play for.”
Posted in gigs, gigs and events, performances and events
PLAY 