Category Archives: Uncategorized

My album Wrong! is now available as a free download on Ergo Phizmiz’s netlabel Chinstrap Music, and on the Free Music Archive.

Enjoy!

My Modersohn-Becker track “Properly Wrong” is featured, along with an absolutely huge selection of various other DIY musical delights by others, on a compilation of Wabi-Sabi music over at Pimpmelon Records.

“Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese aesthetic of finding the beauty in imperfections. One of the untapped subjects of this aesthetic is the music world – until now!

Throughout musical history, over time we’ve grown to accept many aspects of Wabi-Sabi into our listening. Things like Free Jazz, Improvisational, Spoken Word, Poetry, Glitch, and more. Not only in genre, the aspects are also present in things like unfinished symphonies, alternate/unfinished/or unmastered mixes, as well as live tracks that go awry.

This compilation album collects all of these aspects and more, ranging a tonne of genres, recording styles, methods, etc. It is the biggest free collection of “imperfect” music to date, hopefully one that will help many people appreciate this style of music. “

You are cordially invited to join us at our final show:

(photography by Benedetta Ubezio)

“… on the boundary of sound…”

Sajid Akbar | Hannibal Eric Andersen | Andrej Bako | Alison Ballard | Tim Bamber | David Agudelo Bernal | Russell Ackermann-Callow | Giuseppe Cantelmo | David Degos | Nathan Fustec | D
aniel Grossman | Julie Groves | Jack Harris | Lotte Rose Kjær Skau | Artur Matamoro Vidal | Greta Pistaceci | Anna Raimondo | Achint Singh

The Nursery Gallery
London College of Communication
Elephant & Castle SE1 6SB

Opening reception: Monday 19th November 6-9pm
Symposium: Saturday 24th November from 11-3pm

Presenting new works by eighteen contemporary artists, “… on the boundary of sound…” offers an in-depth enquiry into the diversity of sound in the arts.

Whether we embrace sound or try to block it out, in the cacophony of the contemporary world there is barely a corner of our lives that sound doesn’t reach. In an age in which media appears inseparable from culture, politics and social interaction, this exhibition presents a crucial survey of the ways in which sound informs our presence and the space around us, as well as suggesting its intangible authority on our daily lives.

All of the artists presented have been studying on the Postgraduate Sound Arts program at the London College of Communication. It is evident, perhaps due to the contemporary social and political landscape, that many of the works demonstrate a marked interest in political and social tensions amongst emerging sound art practitioners. This is perhaps most evident in the works of Bamber, Raimondo and Bako. However even where other emphasise other concerns, such as proximity, physicality and human relations (Groves), aesthetics (Bernal), or a concern with the environments of art exhibition (Matamoro Vidal) and sound’s relationship with architecture and form (Ballard, Degos and Kjær Skau), degrees of social-political context are still very much evident. Other works draw on the propensity for sound to convey definitions of community, nostalgia and memory (Fustec and Akbar), sound’s relationship to the other senses (Cantelmo and Grossman) or sound as a catalyst for practice and exchange (Singh, Harris and Andersen). There is also a concern with definition, documentation and truth in art, such as that found in the works of Ackermann-Callow and Pistaceci, which underpins the investigatory nature of this exhibition.

To coincide with the exhibition CRiSAP (Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice) will be hosting a symposium at the gallery on the relationship between sound arts practice and sound research. Entrance to the exhibition, performances and symposium is free. “… on the boundary of sound…” is curated by Mark Jackson, supported by London College of Communication and CRiSAP, and presents the final work of the MA Sound Arts graduates of London College of Communication.

Exhibition opening times
Tuesday | Wednesday: 10am-7.30pm
Thursday | Friday: 10am-6pm with evening
performances until 8pm
Saturday: 10am-4pm

Here you can listen to a radio programme (part of a 4-episode series on the theme of “sound as reviews and texts as sound”) that was created by myself, Julie Groves, David Agudelo Bernal, Giuseppe Cantelmo and Achint Singh and broadcast last week on Resonance FM:

Please come to our interim show! Details below.

Jack Harris: A Retrospective

MA Sound Art Soirée

Thursday 12th July 2012

6 – 9PM

DAVID AGUDELO BERNAL // SAJID AKBAR// HANNIBAL ERIC ANDERSEN// ANDREJ BAKO  // ALISON BALLARD // TIM BAMBER // RUSSELL CALLOW // GIUSEPPE CANTELMO // DAVID DEGOS // NATHAN FUSTEC // DANIEL GROSSMAN // JULIE GROVES // JACK HARRIS // TERRY PENG // GRETA PISTACECI // ANNA RAIMONDO // LOTTE ROSE KJÆR SKAU // ACHINT SINGH // ARTUR VIDAL

An evening of performances, showings and diffusions of work from the students of the MA Sound Arts at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.

Mid-way through their year of study, the artists will be presenting a range of work and experiments resulting from their activity during the course. Expect explorations of the aural reconstruction of the NASA space program, deep-bass low-fi cultural-collage, the perfection of party political vocal propaganda, and music that is so quiet (and loud) you’ll never listen to traffic noise in the same way again.

Doors open at 6pm, followed by programs of showings, screenings and performances throughout the evening with opportunities to socialise, speak to the artists, and view show reels and exhibited works.

This event is free.

The New Gallery

London College of Communication

Elephant and Castle

London SE1 6SB

www.lcc.arts.ac.uk

I’m still attempting to catch up with my back-log of posts, and somehow this had escaped me. When I was in Athens (to complete marathon No. 2!) last November I made a little detour to add to my Tapescapes blog. Here it is. And here are all the other posts should you want to check the rest of my blog out!

I have not had a chance to update this blog for a while – so maybe I should make good use of the moment’s respite I am afforded right now and quickly write down all of the things I have been wanting to post here for a while. I have been very busy since the start of my MA in January. The course is amazing, as I expected, but hectic. It’s full-time, but spans 12 continuous calendar months rather than being stretched out over 2 years as many full-time MAs are. Meanwhile I am working part-time and had been training for my third marathon until recently – sadly I had to give up my training in order to focus on my studies, as it was all getting a bit too much for me to handle. I am happy to say, though, that  I have survived the 1^st phase of the MA and am now entering the 2^nd!  Exciting and stressful things are ahead, no doubt!

So many things have taken place in the past few months, and I have wanted to post my new work and experiments on here as they happened, but having been unable to, I am now struggling with recollecting and retrospectively writing about everything, so please bear with me.

But no more excuses… I will get started. Watch this space.

As you may have noticed, this website & blog are undergoing a bit of a revamp. Please bear with me as I update all contents. Apologies for any missing links & content.

Check back soon for the updated version. Meanwhile, feel free to navigate this version… but mind the rubble!

I have not been particularly good at updating this blog, in the last few months. This is because I have been rather busy meeting deadlines –building and showing my installation, finishing and handing in my dissertation, and running a marathon. I have also been working on a new project, which I shall reveal shortly. Here are some pictures of a couple of objects I have built relating to the aforementioned project. I’m particularly proud of the book, as I have built it from scratch (well… almost from scratch: I have used a printer and I have not made the paper, though I did cut each page by hand and perforate it individually!) without any prior knowledge of book-binding and pretty much making it up as I went along. Trial and error produced some pretty nice results, don’t you think?

I have resurrected my Tapescapes project during my recent trip to Paris (where I completed the Paris Marathon!). You can find my recent post, as well as all my old ones HERE.

I will endeavour to post more once my course deadlines are met. I want the project to be ongoing. Stay tuned…

Here are some examples I have found of beds being used in (contemporary) art:

Kaffe Matthews’ Sonic Bed

Tracey Emin’s My Bed

John and Yoko’s Bed-In

Will Ryman’s The Bed

Ron Mueck’s In Bed

Louise Bourgeois’ Seven In a Bed

…and probably hundreds more!

I will comment on each as soon as I have the time to (as I mentioned, at the moment I am rather busy!).

One thing I would like to point out now, though, because Emin’s bed has come up a few times when I have spoken of my idea to others, is that although the initial thought of using the bed in my installation came from a personal place and I am interested in how time relates to us personally, I do not wish to put a figurative name-tag on the bed. Although it happens to have my experience as its inspiration, it is definitely not “Greta’s bed”, and the audience does not even necessarily have to connect the whole thing to me. That is, it concerns itself with time in relation to the personal, and starts from a personal place for me, but I don’t necessarily want it to be obvious in that way or about me.

One of the things that become evident when looking at other works making use of beds and the themes these explore is that beds are used in these works because they evoke privacy, vulnerability (because the private is exposed), sex, peace.

By using a bed I wish to make one feel in a personal place, maybe, but I don’t think I want it to be my personal place.

[more on this when I have more time]

I have just found this video of La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela’s Dream House, which I have mentioned a couple of times in previous posts. I thought I would share it:

Sadly I have no video or pictures of my visit there because I respected the  rules forbidding all recording, photography or videotaping. Looks like some other people were not so respectful, as I found several videos on YouTube. In a way, though, I am kind of glad, because watching these reminds me of what it was like. Though to watch these without having been there cannot in any accurate way convey what the work is or does or how it feels to be there.

I remember I found a spot right in one of the corner of the smaller room (which is on the other side of the corridor and is not shown in this video or any of the other videos I have found on YouTube) where the sound waves were bouncing off and different tones could be heard to the rest of the room, despite there being no speakers in that room. I stood in the semi-darkness with my face against the wall for quite a while… until I managed to startle and freak out the volunteer who was guarding the installation as he suddenly walked in and saw my figure ominously standing in that way!

I have to thank my course-mate Martin for showing me and others THIS.

[poster above designed by Joshua Rothaas, taken from his Flickr page. Click image to visit it]

Since my teens, I have had a huge problem finishing, or even getting started on so many projects, taking decisions or opportunities… I feel as if I was out to constantly sabotage myself (and I frequently have!). I lack self-belief… but I am working on it.

I am training for the Paris Marathon (feel free to sponsor me!), at present, and have in the recent past completed a half marathon(my first). Somehow, I am Ok with training for this new challenge, confident I can carry it out, dedicated to carrying out all of my training runs no matter what the weather conditions (I have gone out jogging in the pouring rain and on ice-covered pavements, – ˚C temperatures) and am happy to have mere completion as my goal (I am not speed-training and I have no intention to “compete”), when it comes to marathon training…. yet when it comes to most other things in my life, I do not yet have that confidence, nor am I satisfied with just doing and completing, and thus I end up paralised before even starting. I think I have a lot to learn from the Done Manifesto, and from my marathon training!

Here are some pictures from our extremely chaotic yet fun performance at Tate Britain, last friday (click on each picture for a larger version):

I will be performing on the 17th of April as part of the Theremin Circle at this year’s Ether Festival at the South Bank Centre.

This is an unmissable opportunity to witness solo performances by some of the leading thereminists in the country, as well as to interact with the instruments and with theremin-installations and to participate in workshops with theremin virtuosa and great-niece of  Leon Theremin, Lydia Kavina.  And all for FREE!

Full details:

Saturday, 17 April 2010

13:00 – 18:00

Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XZ

Hands Off at Ether 2010 includes…

solo theremin performances by

Lydia Kavina, http://www.lydiakavina.com/
Chris Conway, http://www.chrisconway.org/
Alexander Thomas http://www.myspace.com/alexanderthomasmusic
Beat Frequency http://www.youtube.com/GordonCharlton
AND a Theremin Cello duet.

(These are the same cellists that are performing at the Southbank Centre the day before. More info here http://is.gd/9gFZu )

This will be followed by a talk and master class from Lydia Kavina and then a workshop – an opportunity for members of the public to try out our theremins and talk to thereminists about the instrument.

The Theremin Circle is the Grand Finale. It will start at 17:20 and end at 18:00. There will be twenty thereminists involved.

There will also be an interactive theremin installation, consisting of sixteen custom units designed and built by Fred Mundell of Fundamental Designs Ltd. http://www.fundamental-designs.com/

The interactive theremin installation will remain in use for the week of the Ether Festival, both for the public to interact with, and for various electronic musicians to connect their effects and synths to during the week.

Hands Off at Ether is free. No admission charge.

You can find out about other events in this year’s Ether Festival here:

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/festivals-series/ether

– Many thanks to Gordon Charlton (aka Beat Frequency) for this amazing opportunity and for organising what promises to be a truly unforgettable event. –