Collaborations
In The Sparkly Dark, December 2008
this was a sort of alternative Christmas show, aiming to capture the nice year's end feeling of stillness and recollection. there was electronic music - slow, peaceful and very sparkly; lighting by Andrew Allan and Steve Longlands which used pure colours to change the mood; a text from Helen Leslie Bromley which took a sideways look at the story of the Three Wise Men; a small choir and Colin Blakey and Phil Bull providing some real music. the show was at the People's Hall in Sedbergh. despite the atrocious weather about 40 people turned out, and the feedback I've had makes me think they liked it. for sound samples, click here to go to the 'Sounds and Recordings' page.
'Each Pebble Its Part', 2008
this installation uses photographs, field recordings and riverbank stones to recreate the course of the River Rawthey. the river's course is repeated on the gallery floor with stones; as you step on the stones, sounds play that were recorded where the stones were found. the premiere was at Ephemeral House gallery, Sedbergh in June 2008 and then was included in the Sonic Arts Network's 2008 EXPO Festival in Brighton in July 2008. audience numbers were good and reactions very heartening. for more details, including installation photographs and the images used in the piece, click here to go to the 'Each Pebble Its Part' page. for sound samples, click here to go to the 'Sounds and Recordings' page.
Sounds in a Wood, 2008
this performance for voices and acoustic instruments took place as part of the Sedbergh Music Festival on Sunday 15 June 2008 on the banks of the River Rawthey. despite dodgy weather earlier in the weekend and the difficulty of getting to the wood, about 25 people made it to the performance and braved the midges. it went well and people seemed to like it, although most people would have preferred a little more music and a little less me. for more details and installation photographs, click here to go to the 'Sounds in a Wood' page.
Sound and Light, 2007
this was a performance in Sedbergh on 5 December 2007 with light therapist Liz Hilton. she provided the slowly-changing pure light, and I provided the slowly-changing laptop-improvised four-channel soundtrack. sounds from Sedbergh's Christmas late-night opening festivities seeped in from the street outside; the audience came, relaxed, and moved on when they were ready.
Sprint Mill, 2007
I developed a performance piece called 'Goat Ash Nibbled Seat' with Colin Blakey which we performed at Sprint Mill, near Burneside, Cumbria, on 1 July 2007. Sprint Mill is the home of Edward and Romola Acland, and the centre of their organic smallholding, wood products workshop, and more. Edward is also a very interesting visual artist. the piece involved my live computer processing, based on field recordings, live-generated sound, processing of a live feed from the River Sprint flowing past, and processing of Colin's playing of Galician bagpipes, percussion (including a garden bench built at Sprint Mill) and a vast Amazonian flute. the audience of 50 or so seemed to like it! unfortunately there is no documentation of the event, but I did a montage of photos on a previous visit to Sprint Mill, which you can see by clicking here.