Everytime I'm involved in a commission for Mercy the experience is intense. Just back from the Mercy led Electronic Voice Phenomena project as part of the Liverpool Biennial and the weekend was a remarkable experience. I performed on Saturday night, a third commission with Ben Morris, and today, Sunday, took part in a think tank which involved some of the most exciting electronic, sonic, visual, performance, conceptual and new media artists from around Europe. People had come from across the UK and via Berlin, from Italy and Sweden.
Ben and I played in a night club basically, emptied out of its normal punters, leading on for Iris Garrelfs and Scanner, and had a weird day setting up and wandering around a pre-drunk Liverpool city centre as saturday night became the traditional idiot dweeb fest that every northern city enjoys. We were shouted at on the street a few times and met a solid flock of junkies which limbered up our creative juice. The piece was again based on ideas of organic voice manipulation mixed with Ben's exploration of sonic landscapes which entertain the same aesthetic idea. It went okay, I lifted some weights. It probably came across as quite didactic with my atheism, which wasn't intentional, but I don't regret. We then stayed in a haunted student halls of residence, with fakir beds with fin de siecle springs instead of nails.
The day of talks and discussions was led by Erik Bunger, whose work is really extraordinary and his lead really began a day of eye opening work and really positive generous discussions. Being exposed to the likes of Alessandra Eramo and Francesco Cavaliere, who were stunning, amongst artists like Emma Bennett and James Wilkes, who I already admire, made me feel pretty lucky. it's rare to be in the company of so many erudite, established artists who are so humble and open and ready to share and learn and collaborate. A great weekend, full of laughs, as it always is working with Ben. More to come on this, in depth features on some of the artists I was exposed to.
Ben and I played in a night club basically, emptied out of its normal punters, leading on for Iris Garrelfs and Scanner, and had a weird day setting up and wandering around a pre-drunk Liverpool city centre as saturday night became the traditional idiot dweeb fest that every northern city enjoys. We were shouted at on the street a few times and met a solid flock of junkies which limbered up our creative juice. The piece was again based on ideas of organic voice manipulation mixed with Ben's exploration of sonic landscapes which entertain the same aesthetic idea. It went okay, I lifted some weights. It probably came across as quite didactic with my atheism, which wasn't intentional, but I don't regret. We then stayed in a haunted student halls of residence, with fakir beds with fin de siecle springs instead of nails.
The day of talks and discussions was led by Erik Bunger, whose work is really extraordinary and his lead really began a day of eye opening work and really positive generous discussions. Being exposed to the likes of Alessandra Eramo and Francesco Cavaliere, who were stunning, amongst artists like Emma Bennett and James Wilkes, who I already admire, made me feel pretty lucky. it's rare to be in the company of so many erudite, established artists who are so humble and open and ready to share and learn and collaborate. A great weekend, full of laughs, as it always is working with Ben. More to come on this, in depth features on some of the artists I was exposed to.