Scanner Newsletter October 2008
Current mood: thoughtful
Category: Music
October 2008
Hello
The nights are growing shorter and the days shorter so it's time to search out the light and sunshine elsewhere. With my tan rapidly fading from my recent adventures in Gran Canaria filming with artist Olga Mink for our artwork at the 2nd Biennial of the Canary Islands, I look at the steely grey skies and dream of climbing inside a volcano again.
The alien landscapes of Gran Canaria were extraordinary and unforgettable and we managed to capture some remarkable footage of some of the most remote regions of the seven islands. Driving across ridges of land with sheer cliff edge drops either side of us, dashing across the seas in a boat from island to island, traversing past sulphuric lakes and ending our trip with a camel ride around a volcano in Lanzarote, it's clear to appreciate the spectacular appeal of such foreign soil.
Alien life forms have continued to accompany me as I've been working in Derby in the UK as Associate Artist at Deda with work presented at Derby Feste for the closing weekend of September. As giant insects moved their way slowly through the city at night, smoke billowing, my music could be heard in the main square accompanying the enormous heliosphere floating across the dark skies and fireworks lighting up the sky. Thousands of people were there to enjoy the atmosphere, in addition to the 28,007 (yes, they count number exactly in sports arenas) who attended the Derby County match the previous weekend who also heard my music. Unsurprisingly they seemed more interested in inventing foul rhymes to sling back at the opposing team, Cardiff City, who'd reciprocate with equally soiled poetry!
Of Air and Ear finally premiered at the Royal Opera House in London and gracefully sold out several days before the performance. With long haul nights of installing technology from 23.00 until morning, it was a delight to present the final work as part of this oversubscribed weekend of Deloitte Ignite events. Sophie Clements, my collaborator, Pete Lockett the percussionist and myself were extremely happy with the outcome of the night, a six hour immersive work that we hope will tour in 2008 to other locations.
Doubtlessly some of you may have heard about the recent sale of Damien Hirst's work in a massive auction in London, earning Sotheby's and Hirst a weighty £111 pounds each and curiously I'll be using recordings I made of this and other auctions in a new work to be premiered at the Sovereign Art Foundation in London this month. Accompanying a show of work by a selection of European artists at Somerset House, my piece The Hammer Will Fall will collage together audio, crowds and patter from these outrageously opulent sales, to be heard at the gala prize night, judged by the likes Sir Peter Blake, Tim Marlow, Jarvis Cocker and Alan Yentob. Afterwards I'll be making it freely downloadable from my website so stay tuned for that.
Though rather an amateur photographer in my outlook I'm currently exhibiting work at Linfield College Art Gallery, McMinnville Oregon as part of the .meta art show. With works linked around a theme of building blocks, parts and pieces, not complete thoughts, perhaps it's fitting that my rather fragmentary images should be included. Playful and broken, it's a curiously abstract approach to securing a theme for the show.
Simultaneously I've composed a new 55 minute work, Correspondence, to accompany an exhibition by Belgium artists collective, Auguste Orts (Herman Asselberghs, Manon de Boer, Anouq de Clercq and Sven Augustijnen) opening at LUX 28 in London in early October, continuing to the beginning of November. For those outside of London you'll have an opportunity to hear the entire work broadcast on Resonance FM 104.4 FM on 20 October and later on it will be released as an edition CD in 2009. It utilizes their film soundtracks within the frame of an entirely original new work.
October has already shaped up to be an extremely busy month, opening with premieres of two new works with contemporary ensemble Alter Ego. I'll be presenting Summer by Summer, All Stole Away in Venice as part of the Biennale Musica, alongside William Basinski, and Measure the Fire at the Core of the Heart at the Ultima Festival in Oslo alongside a new work by Biosphere. Then it's off to the Ukraine to perform in Kiev, to Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol UK to play with Githead and present our work as part of a unique evening of word and music, and then directly to Eindhoven to launch the Image Radio Festival media arts festival with a new collaboration with Olga Mink.
So another restful month ahead!
Until next time
Robin / Scanner
::: listen ::: Panoptique Electrical: Let the Darkness at You (Sensory Projects) Rumpistol: Dynamo (Rump) Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebzeit: Secret Rhythms 3 (Nonplace) Francisco López: Conops (GD Stereo)
::: read ::: Mark Ravenhill: Product (Methuen) David Rothenberg: Sudden Music (Georgia) Voice & Void (The Aldrich) Margaret Kilgallen: In the Sweet Bye & Bye (Redcat)
::: film::: Into the Wild, Sean Penn, USA Import Export, Ulrich Seidl, Austria Belle Toujours, Manoel de Oliveira, France Martian Child, Menno Meyjes, USA
::: Diary Dates :::
2008 07 Oct-Faultine dance Everyman Theatre Cheltenham UK 11 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Ultima Festival Oslo NO 17 Oct-Faultline dance Macrobert Theatre Stirling UK 18 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Venice Biennale IT 23 Oct-Faultline dance New Theatre Royal Portsmouth UK 25 Oct-Kvitnu Fest Lviv Ukraine 29 Oct-Githead gig & talk Arnolfini Bristol UK 30 Oct-2 Nov-Imageradio with Olga Mink Eindhoven NL 06 Nov-Faultline dance Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield UK 07 Nov-Gaida Festival Vilnius LT 15 Nov-All Frontiers Festival Monfalcone IT 18-20 Nov-Presentation Virginia Commonwealth University USA 06 Dec-Madeira Dig Festival P 18 Dec-Githead Tel Aviv Israel
2009 23 Jan-Nature of Being with Olga Mink Frank K Club Reutlingen GE 13 Feb-The Missing with Troy Barnarzi Somerset House London UK 07 March-Live with Manuel Gottsching Royce Hall UCLA USA 26 March-4m2 Deda premiere of new dance work UK
Exhibitions
Correspondence Auguste Orts with soundtrack remixes by Scanner LUX 28 London
2 October - 1 November 2008
An exhibition featuring Belgium artists collective, Auguste Orts (Herman Asselberghs, Manon de Boer, Anouq de Clercq and Sven Augustijnen - www.augusteorts.be). At LUX 28 August Orts will install a video library and reading area for the public to explore the group's work, influences and interests. To further elucidate their ideas the group will enter a correspondance during the summer and these letters will be available in the reading area. Films, books and other sources mentioned in the letters, will be on display and will complete the dialogue.
Alongside the video library and reading room, the artists have asked Scanner to re-mix the soundtracks of their video work into a new composition. The resulting will be presented as a sound work in the exhibition space at LUX 28 and broadcast on Resonance FM and to open the exhibition there will be an accompanying screening at Tate Modern
Auguste Orts/ Scanner broadcast on Resonance FM 104.4FM, Monday 20 October 8pm
The term utopia, 'the non-place', derived from old Greek 'u-', non, and 'tópos',place, denotes a 'nowhere' which is untraceable and therefore projecting all longing into an unreachable beyond. Utopia is therefore an imagination, which is thinkable as an idea, yet is not directly realisable. Paraflows 08 UTOPIA gathers concepts of a possible future, drawing upon perspectives, dreams and prognoses, daring to take a prognostic look at the future. It will strive to provide a multi-layered examination involving the overwhelming architectonic and historical reality of the venue - the MAK Gegenwartskunstdepot Gefechtsturm Arenbergpark. Scanner presents Countdown, a new audio installation. www.paraflows.at www.mak.at
.meta Linfield College Art Gallery, McMinnville, OR
15 October -29 November 2008
A group show about the origins of ideas, not complete thoughts; about subtext than anything else - the building blocks, parts, pieces - without a practical narrative. With Nayland Blake, Jack Daws, Harrison Higgs, Jesse Paul Miller, Rimbaud/Scanner, Stephanie Robison and others.
www.linfield.edu Night Haunts By Sukhdev Sandhu Design Mind Unit Sound Design Scanner
Artangel Interaction invited writer and historian Sukhdev Sandhu to write a nocturnal journal unfolding over the course of 2006. His postings will appear sequentially at this microsite specially designed by Mind Unit. Sandhu's forays see him prospecting in the London night with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, zookeepers and exorcists. Acclaimed artist and musician Scanner has collaborated with Sukhdev and Ian Budden of Mind Unit to compose the sound for the site.
Bittersweet Songs for the Sleepless City Artangel Interaction
NightJam is the latest project in Artangel Interaction's Nights of London series of artist-led collaborations with people who have a special view on a hidden side of the nocturnal city. Scanner invited young people at New Horizon Youth Centre in King's Cross to collaborate on a creative project that expresses how the city at night looks and sounds to their ears and eyes. Through music and voice workshops they explored the sense of freedom and fear, celebration and solitude of the concealing darkness. Meanwhile, they captured their nights on disposable cameras, taking images that are at times eerie, startling, contemplative and funny. NightJam presents two elusive visual and musical journeys through the city's ‘quiet' hours.
Scanner Newsletter September 2008
Current mood: voluminous
September 2008
Hello
Olympic fever has seemingly gripped the UK, anticipating our grand adventures in 2012, whilst I've barely caught a sighting of a running shoe or headband, as I've been keeping my head down on work. Indeed as I write this I am working on a new film work with artist Olga Mink in the Canary Islands, filming each of the seven islands in a work that will be premiered in December 2008 at the Gran Canaria Biennial, following an imaginary trail between the islands.
August began in Vienna, researching for the Paraflows 08 show that opens this month at the CAT–Contemporary Art Tower, part of the MAK museum. Themed around an idea of utopia, the show draws on concepts of a possible future, dreams and prognoses, whilst striving to provide a multi-layered examination involving the overwhelming architectonic and historical reality of the venue - the MAK Gegenwartskunstdepot Gefechtsturm Arenbergpark.
Any visitors to Vienna cannot have missed these foreboding ‘Flak Towers' in the city, the largest of which is half a million cubic metres, weighs several hundred thousand tonnes, and stand more than 55 metres tall. Built during the Second World War to fend off Allied bombers all six of these thuggish buildings survive, dominating the landscape but somehow do not exist as part of ‘official' Vienna, invisible to tour guides and books. With walls up to three metres thick this warren of corridors and rooms will host a series of artworks that look towards a future and a past. My work Countdown will use uses a multitude of clock recordings, counting the seconds, minutes and hours away until this earthly paradise. Suggestions of violence hover under beneath the surface; the ticking of a clock could also be the ticking of a bomb, echoing attempts at demolishing the towers in the past, moving towards utopia by erasing the past, whilst at the same time offering a positive message of counting down towards utopia. On 16 September I'll be performing three free live performances inside this fortress too, so any complaints and you'll be left inside the building!
Many years ago back in the 1980s I was fortunate enough to be able to see a show of American artist Robert Rauschenberg's prints based on Dante's Inferno, depicting the horrors of the underworld in unsettlingly graphic terms, images sampled from many sources. Modern in their outlook they also recalled the tumult of Hieronymus Bosch paintings. More recently I had the opportunity of developing a project based around Dante's Inferno at the invitation of Art and Adventure's Roger Elsgood and Willi Richards. Originally an idea for a radio piece it rapidly developed into an ambitious theatrical experience with Mr “call me Bob” Rauschenberg himself who gave his enthusiastic support, but sadly due to pressure of work and failing health had to withdraw from the project. With the tragic passing of Bob in May this year, it's fitting that our adaptation of Dante's Inferno should now be available as a CD release on CSA Word.
The Inferno is an epic poem of Italian literature, a tale told by Dante as he's drawn by the spirit of Virgil through the twenty-four circles of Hell. For our adaptation we were privileged to get Corin Redgrave, Alex Jennings, American artist and musician Laurie Anderson and the original God of FireArthur Brown to feature in the work, whilst I designed and composed the soundtrack for this anguished adventure. Favorably reviewed already in The Observer newspaper it wrote that:
“This brave venture, presenting Dante's Inferno in 60 minutes, works amazingly well... The eerie background sounds and cacophony of anguished cries and lamentation are truly haunting as Dante does the Grand Tour of sinners' punishments - flung into boiling tar by the Devil, turned into bleeding trees, locked in ice, wrapped in snakes or consumed by unrelievable itching. The Bosch-like cameos of suffering are so visual, the language so vivid, the sounds so atmospheric that I was as relieved as Dante to see that Heavenly Light.”
Ah Hellboy has nothing on us! And in our step towards the Light, proceeds from the sale of this disc go To The Corin Redgrave Threshold Fund, an organisation which helps young actors jump-start their careers..
September is really a month of premieres too. Finally after months of developing Of Air and Ear, a new audiovisual work in collaboration with visual artist Sophie Clements, we can present it to the world at large on 13 September at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. Over three days, Deloitte Ignite will represent a revelatory tour through the senses, with a whole spectrum of experiences to stimulate, tantalise, and inspire. Leading choreographer, Wayne McGregor has curated a programme that will radically challenge peoples' perceptions not only of themselves, but also of what they can expect to find at the Royal Opera House.
Of Air and Ear is a six-hour installation/performance, using a spectacular playable light sculpture, live percussion by Pete Lockett and a narrative that begins in an immersive womb like state and develops into a full out pumped up propelling theatrical experience. Stay for the duration or choose your times wisely, as each of the three key live sets is unique.
As Composer in Residence at Déda I spent some time recently in Derby developing a series of new projects. This month I'll be premiering a new composition to accompany the landing of a giant heliosphere in the grounds of Derby Football Club on 20 September to the accompanied cheering and noise of 30,000 football fans. A week later I'll be taking part in the Derby Feste 2008 from 26-28 September, celebrating both the official opening of the QUAD art centre, a signature building for arts and film, and also the launch of the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year programme of activity running up to the London Olympics in 2012. Gigantic creatures will walk through the streets; enormous creepy crawlies will inch their way across the city and I will soundtrack a series of pyrotechnics in the countdown towards the launch of QUAD, a dramatic and extravagant gesture of celebration.
September will also take me to Bergen Norway for a conference on sonic arts, as well as other superhero adventures, so until next month, wrap up, stay safe and be good.
Until next time
Robin / Scanner
::: listen ::: Hector Zazou & Swara: In the House of Mirrors (Crammed) GTO: G-Force + London (Brainwashed) Wolfgang Voigt: Gas (Raster-Noton) Goldmund: The Malady of Elegance (Type)
::: read ::: John Gregory Dunne: Regards (Thunders Mouth) Erik Kessels: In Almost Every Picture (Artimo) Bill Drummond: 17 (Beautiful Books) Punk-No-One is Innocent (Kunsthalle)
::: film::: Le Cercle Rouge, Jean-Pierre Melville, France Rescue Dawn, Werner Herzog, USA Cocaine Cowboys, Billy Corben, USA Bonny & Clyde, Arthur Penn, USA
::: Diary Dates :::
2008 13 Sept-Of Air and Ear Royal Opera House London UK 16 Sept-Performance Paraflows CAT/MAK Vienna A 19 Sept-Presentation Bergen National Academy of Arts NO 20 Sept-New work Derby Football Club Derby UK 26 Sept-Quad Opening/Big Dance Days Derby UK 07 Oct-Faultine dance Everyman Theatre Cheltenham UK 11 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Ultima Festival Oslo NO 17 Oct-Faultline dance Macrobert Theatre Stirling UK 18 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Venice Biennale IT 23 Oct-Faultline dance New Theatre Royal Portsmouth UK 26 Oct-Kvitnu Fest Lviv Ukraine 29 Oct-Githead gig & talk Arnolfini Bristol UK 30 Oct-2 Nov-Imageradio Eindhoven NL 06 Nov-Faultlin dance Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield UK 07 Nov-Gaida Festival Vilnius LT 15 Nov-All Frontiers Festival Monfalcone IT 18-20 Nov-Presentation Virginia Commonwealth University USA
2009 23 Jan-Nature of Being with Olga Mink Frank K Club Reutlingen GE 13 Feb-The Missing with Troy Barnarzi Somerset House London UK 07 March-Live with Manuel Gottsching Royce Hall UCLA USA 26 March-4m2 Deda premiere of new dance work UK
Exhibitions
Paraflows08 Utopia CAT–Contemporary Art Tower
11 September - 24 October 2008
The term utopia, 'the non-place', derived from old Greek 'u-', non, and 'tópos',place, denotes a 'nowhere' which is untraceable and therefore projecting all longing into an unreachable beyond. Utopia is therefore an imagination, which is thinkable as an idea, yet is not directly realisable. Paraflows 08 UTOPIA gathers concepts of a possible future, drawing upon perspectives, dreams and prognoses, daring to take a prognostic look at the future. It will strive to provide a multi-layered examination involving the overwhelming architectonic and historical reality of the venue - the MAK Gegenwartskunstdepot Gefechtsturm Arenbergpark. Scanner presents Countdown, a new audio installation. www.paraflows.at www.mak.at
Night Haunts By Sukhdev Sandhu Design Mind Unit Sound Design Scanner
Artangel Interaction invited writer and historian Sukhdev Sandhu to write a nocturnal journal unfolding over the course of 2006. His postings will appear sequentially at this microsite specially designed by Mind Unit. Sandhu's forays see him prospecting in the London night with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, zookeepers and exorcists. Acclaimed artist and musician Scanner has collaborated with Sukhdev and Ian Budden of Mind Unit to compose the sound for the site.
Bittersweet Songs for the Sleepless City Artangel Interaction
NightJam is the latest project in Artangel Interaction's Nights of London series of artist-led collaborations with people who have a special view on a hidden side of the nocturnal city. Scanner invited young people at New Horizon Youth Centre in King's Cross to collaborate on a creative project that expresses how the city at night looks and sounds to their ears and eyes. Through music and voice workshops they explored the sense of freedom and fear, celebration and solitude of the concealing darkness. Meanwhile, they captured their nights on disposable cameras, taking images that are at times eerie, startling, contemplative and funny. NightJam presents two elusive visual and musical journeys through the city's ‘quiet' hours.
NightJam presents two music tracks, a film, photographs, that can be experienced and freely downloaded. A limited edition CD is also being distributed for free through the website. Now featuring remixes of NightJam by Stephen Vitiello, Hakan Lidbo, Troy Banarzi, Si-cut.db and Pete Lockett.
Scanner Newsletter August 2008
Current mood: naughty
Category: Music
August 2008
Hello
Whilst sunshine embraces London and already everyone complains about the temperature and the humidity I've been sheltering from animated lightning storms in The Netherlands and Russia in the last weeks.
July began heads down in Drachten in the north of The Netherlands where I've been working on a very appealing product with Philips Electronics, ready to hit the shelves just in time for Christmas so more on this later, it's 007 hush hush/top secret for the moment. Then on to Moscow for a very wet sticky weekend, where a random bug decided to devour me for a day, raising my body temperature to a bafflingly high amount and encouraging me to sleep, sleep, sleep.
Mid July I produced sound for an installation Submersed Songsby Brazilian artist Vivian Caccuri, an especially unusual project, as the sound was modified by four carps swimming real time, allowing the audience to listen to the sound reactions that will come up as a result of the movements and interactions. A software system tracked their location and as the fish swam close to each other or split apart, altered the sounds heard.
Otherwise my time has been spent developing this major Of Air and Ear project for the Royal Opera House in London, for a single six-hour live performance on 13 September. As part of Wayne MacGregor's Deloitte Ignite I will be presenting this exclusive work amongst film screenings, installations and interactive artworks, in collaboration with visual artist Sophie Clements. She's developed a spectacular playable light sculpture that will create a live dialogue between the sound and image, combining colour, texture and light, all given renewed force by live percussion from Pete Lockett. More on this grand spectacle in September!
I'm currently Composer in Residence at Derby Dance in the UK, as part of Déda: the Artist Scheme which was launched in 2007 to provide support for artists based in Derby, the East Midlands and nationally. In July choreographer Claire Cunningham presented Relay, three short new works as part of the scheme, with my soundtrack and in August I'm off to stay in Derby to develop a major new work with her and Jose Agudo which will be presented later this year, as well as compose a new piece to be performed at the local football club in September in front of 30,000 people, a rather intimidating request indeed. It'll be my second visit to a football ground in my life!
I spoke at the ICA in July with DJ Spooky about Sound Unbound, his new publication on the idea of the remix--how music, art, and literature have blurred the lines between what an artist can do and what a composer can create. Next I'm off to speak at the BBC Proms about the legacy of Karlheinz Stockhausen on 2 August. Stockhausen would have turned 80 this year and this special Stockhausen Day celebrates his uncompromising work, with the BBC Symphonic Orchestra performing a contrasting pair of his early works – Gruppen and Kontakte, referring to 'contacts' between sounds – with two recent works, both of them excerpts from 'Klang', the large-scale sequence on which Stockhausen was working at the time of his death last December. I'll be taking my seat in reverence.
August will take me on research trips to Vienna and the Canary Islands and occupy my time in the next weeks, towards a series of projects in 2008-2009, so until next month, enjoy the sunshine and take care.
Until next time
Robin
::: listen ::: Machinefabriek + Stephen Vitiello: Box Music (12K) GTO: All the Masters Licked Me (Brainwashed) Various: Factory Benelux 1980-1985 (LTM) Lawrence English: Kiri No Oto (Touch)
::: read ::: Score for a Hole in the Ground: Jem Finer (Stour Valley) Tobias Rehberger 1993-2008 (Dumont) The World of Karl Pilkington: Ricky Gervais (Fourth Estate) Hammershoi (Royal Academy of Arts)
::: film::: Noise, Matthew Saville, Australia The Visitor, Thomas McCarthy, USA Kung Fu Panda, Mark Osborne, USA Wall-E, Andrew Stanton, USA
::: Diary Dates :::
2008 02 Aug-BBC Proms talk on Stockhausen London UK 13 Sept-Of Air and Ear Royal Opera House London UK 16 Sept-Performance Paraflows CAT/MAK Vienna A 18-19 Sept-Presentation Bergen National Academy of Arts NO 20 Sept-New work Derby Football Club Derby UK 26-28 Sept-Quad Opening/Big Dance Days Derby UK 02 Oct-Blindscape with Tez MFRU Maribor SI 03 Oct-Merce Cunningham Talk Barbican London UK 07 Oct-Faultine dance Everyman Theatre Cheltenham UK 11 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Ultima Festival Oslo NO 17 Oct-Faultline dance Macrobert Theatre Stirling UK 18 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Venice Biennale IT 23 Oct-Faultline dance New Theatre Royal Portsmouth UK 26 Oct-Kvitnu Fest Lviv Ukraine 29 Oct-Githead gig & talk Arnolfini Bristol UK 30 Oct-2 Nov-Imageradio Eindhoven NL 06 Nov-Faultlin dance Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield UK 07 Nov-Gaida Festival Vilnius LT 14-16 Nov-All Frontiers Festival Monfalcone IT 18-20 Nov-Presentation Virginia Commonwealth University USA
2009 23 Jan-Nature of Being with Olga Mink Frank K Club Reutlingen GE 13 Feb-The Missing with Troy Barnarzi Somerset House London UK 07 March-Live with Manuel Gottsching Royce Hall UCLA USA 26 March-Derby dance premiere of new work UK
Exhibitions
Radio Action III: Online Radio Programme Radio Web MACBA (RWM) MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain 18 June-30 August 2008
Curated by: free103point9 in collaboration with Barbara Held Radio Action III is a special program for Radio Web MACBA and the next free103point9 Audio Dispatch CD Release. RWM is a radio-phonic project on the MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona) website that explores the possibilities of the internet and radio as spaces of synthesis and exhibition. Radio Action III features five-minute sounds works conceptually tied to 'radio' as instrument or theme, composed by free103point9 Transmission Artists working in collaborative teams. Works by 31 Down & Matt Bua, Damian Catera, Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson, Joshua Fried & Todd Merrell, Anna Friz & Tianna Kennedy, Michelle Nagai with Kenta Nagai, radio_ruido & ben owen, Tom Roe & Scanner and others.
Night Haunts By Sukhdev Sandhu Design Mind Unit Sound Design Scanner
Artangel Interaction invited writer and historian Sukhdev Sandhu to write a nocturnal journal unfolding over the course of 2006. His postings will appear sequentially at this microsite specially designed by Mind Unit. Sandhu's forays see him prospecting in the London night with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, zookeepers and exorcists. Acclaimed artist and musician Scanner has collaborated with Sukhdev and Ian Budden of Mind Unit to compose the sound for the site.
Bittersweet Songs for the Sleepless City Artangel Interaction
NightJam is the latest project in Artangel Interaction's Nights of London series of artist-led collaborations with people who have a special view on a hidden side of the nocturnal city. Scanner invited young people at New Horizon Youth Centre in King's Cross to collaborate on a creative project that expresses how the city at night looks and sounds to their ears and eyes. Through music and voice workshops they explored the sense of freedom and fear, celebration and solitude of the concealing darkness. Meanwhile, they captured their nights on disposable cameras, taking images that are at times eerie, startling, contemplative and funny. NightJam presents two elusive visual and musical journeys through the city's ‘quiet' hours.
NightJam presents two music tracks, a film, photographs, that can be experienced and freely downloaded. A limited edition CD is also being distributed for free through the website. Now featuring remixes of NightJam by Stephen Vitiello, Hakan Lidbo, Troy Banarzi, Si-cut.db and Pete Lockett.
Stockhausen Chat
Current mood: electric
Category: Music
Hello, hello
In support of the Stockhausen performances at the BBC Proms I was part of a panel discussion on the work of the late composer. If you fancy a listen, tune into:
Scanner Newsletter July 2008
Current mood: thoughtful
Category: Music
July 2008
Hello
The summer may almost have arrived in London with sunshine and bright blue skies creeping in when we least expect it. Another month of airports, deadlines, rushing, crushing and dashing around the globe, watching, listening and reading. It's also been a terrific opportunity to enjoy live music, everyone from The Notwist, Coco Rosie, Kim Cascone, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson and My Bloody Valentine, the last of whom I saw at the ICA in London, a tiny warm up show for their forthcoming tour. Having not played for 16 years their mythical status was worthy of attention but it was the terrorizing volume of the concert that I'll never forget. Wearing professional earplugs and with my hands suction cupped over my ears nothing could have prepared me for this shell-shock wall of pervading noise for 90 minutes. Now I've experienced LOUD before having seen the original Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Throbbing Gristle, Non, SPK and Merzbow but this was a full body-bones-vibrating-inside-an-airplane-engine volume. I was virtually trampled underfoot by noise.
Giving a talk about sound at the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) in Vilnius in June was also a time of celebration as I arrived on the very day that the Lithuanian government gave the go-ahead for construction of a new art museum in the country's capital. The $117 million Zaha Hadid-designed building will be a joint venture between Lithuania, Russia's State Hermitage Museum, and the Guggenheim and is scheduled to open in 2013, so that was an exhilarating moment to share in.
Continuing the talking, Harmonography at the Purcell Room was a great success in association with the Hayward Gallery's Psycho Buildings show, where the directors of Rubelo and myself gave a talk without words, sitting at a panel as if ready for discussion. Using projections with abstract sound and image, it was a very playful postmodern theoretical game that looked at the parallels of music and architecture. AND there were no questions to answer afterwards.
I recently contributed material to Radio Web MACBA (RWM) at MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain for their Radio Action III: Online Radio Programme. Radio Action III is a special program for Radio Web MACBA and the next free103point9 Audio Dispatch CD Release. RWM is a radio-phonic project on the MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona) website that explores the possibilities of the internet and radio as spaces of synthesis and exhibition. Featuring five-minute sound works especially conceived conceptually to radio as an instrument or theme my collaboration with artist Tom Roe can be heard until the end of August 2008 as part of this series.
The first edition of ok parking magazine in The Netherlands has just been published and features a series of found photographs that I've been collecting for many years, including photobooths of unknown figures, faces and characters. Perhaps you might recognize some of the people even, now that would be very curious.
I'm off to Drachten in the Netherlands to begin this month, located in the municipality of Smallingerland, in the province of Friesland, which effectively means it's a tiny little place, mostly recognized for two details. The first is my reason for visiting, to work with Philips Design on a new product, but Drachten also received international attention for a traffic experiment known as shared space. All traffic lights and road signs were removed in the city centre in an effort to improve traffic safety, based on a theory that suggests that drivers pay more attention to their surroundings when they can't follow signs.
I can assure you I'll be looking both ways when I cross the road, just in case though.
Robin
Robin
::: listen ::: Fleet Foxes:Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop) The Shortwave Set: Replica Sun Machine (Wall of Sound) Car Michael von Hausswolf: Perhaps I Arrive (Aufabwegen) Various: Les Disques du Crepuscule 1980-1985 (LTM)
::: read ::: Inke Arns: Irwin Retroprincip (Revolver) Mark Ravenhill: Plays 1 (Methuen) David Nicholls: John Cage (Illinois Press) David Sheppard: On Some Faraway Beach (Orion)
::: film::: Hors de Prix, Pierre Salvadori, France The Edge of Love, John Maybury, UK Adulthood, Noel Clarke, UK In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Alex Holdridge, USA
::: Diary Dates :::
2008 12 July-Derby Spectacle Derby UK 02 Aug-BBC Proms talk on Stockhausen London UK 13 Sept-Of Air and Ear Royal Opera House London UK 16 Sept-Performance Paraflows CAT/MAK Vienna A 18-19 Sept-Presentation Bergen National Academy of Arts NO 26-28 Sept-Quad Opening/Big Dance Days Derby UK 02 Oct-Blindscape with Tez MFRU Maribor SI 03 Oct-Merce Cunningham Talk Barbican London UK 11 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Ultima Festival Oslo NO 18 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Venice Biennale IT 26 Oct-Kvitnu Fest Lviv Ukraine 29 Oct-Githead gig & talk Arnolfini Bristol UK 30 Oct-2 Nov-Imageradio Eindhoven NL 07 Nov-Gaida Festival Vilnius LT 18-20 Nov-Presentation Virginia Commonwealth University USA
2009 13 Feb-The Missing with Troy Barnarzi Somerset House London UK 07 March-Live with Manuel Gottsching Royce Hall UCLA USA 26 March-Derby dance premiere of new work UK
Exhibitions
Radio Action III: Online Radio Programme Radio Web MACBA (RWM) MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain 18 June-30 August 2008
Curated by: free103point9 in collaboration with Barbara Held Radio Action III is a special program for Radio Web MACBA and the next free103point9 Audio Dispatch CD Release. RWM is a radio-phonic project on the MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona) website that explores the possibilities of the internet and radio as spaces of synthesis and exhibition. Radio Action III features five-minute sounds works conceptually tied to 'radio' as instrument or theme, composed by free103point9 Transmission Artists working in collaborative teams. Works by 31 Down & Matt Bua, Damian Catera, Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson, Joshua Fried & Todd Merrell, Anna Friz & Tianna Kennedy, Michelle Nagai with Kenta Nagai, radio_ruido & ben owen, Tom Roe & Scanner and others.
Night Haunts By Sukhdev Sandhu Design Mind Unit Sound Design Scanner
Artangel Interaction invited writer and historian Sukhdev Sandhu to write a nocturnal journal unfolding over the course of 2006. His postings will appear sequentially at this microsite specially designed by Mind Unit. Sandhu's forays see him prospecting in the London night with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, zookeepers and exorcists. Acclaimed artist and musician Scanner has collaborated with Sukhdev and Ian Budden of Mind Unit to compose the sound for the site.
Bittersweet Songs for the Sleepless City Artangel Interaction
NightJam is the latest project in Artangel Interaction's Nights of London series of artist-led collaborations with people who have a special view on a hidden side of the nocturnal city. Scanner invited young people at New Horizon Youth Centre in King's Cross to collaborate on a creative project that expresses how the city at night looks and sounds to their ears and eyes. Through music and voice workshops they explored the sense of freedom and fear, celebration and solitude of the concealing darkness. Meanwhile, they captured their nights on disposable cameras, taking images that are at times eerie, startling, contemplative and funny. NightJam presents two elusive visual and musical journeys through the city's ‘quiet' hours.
NightJam presents two music tracks, a film, photographs, that can be experienced and freely downloaded. A limited edition CD is also being distributed for free through the website. Now featuring remixes of NightJam by Stephen Vitiello, Hakan Lidbo, Troy Banarzi, Si-cut.db and Pete Lockett.
Scanner Newsletter June 2008
Current mood: pure
Category: Music
June 2008
Hello
Greetings from a hot and humid New York City, where I'm currently residing for the week. Exactly 38 minutes into my birthday last week the Phoenix landed on Mars beaming extraordinary pictures back to Earth of another magical place, whilst I spent my celebratory hours shielding from the London rain, with the city suffering from one months worth of rain in just one day.
..
New York has offered new friends, retail shopping with a weak dollar and a generous credit card, and chances to see inspirational art shows by the likes of Olafur Eliasson and Murakami, and live concerts by Danish wunder kids Efterklang and proto punks Wire storming a live set to several thousand keen listeners at Pier 17 at night.
International travel often brings memorable moments and this week was no disappointment. In passing through Customs Control at JFK I was routinely stopped and requested to open my suitcase. A stern and coarse Customs Officer then hammered his fist around the case, inside the case, over, under, checking for secret compartments. Seeing that I had very little attire with me for my stay he grew very suspicious why such few items of clothing for your stay here sir? and proceeded to pick up my socks, undies and shirts with rubber gloves, inspecting each and every item. You've carry a lot of makeup with you he continued. Explaining how old I was now and how this helped he almost broke a smile but couldn't allow himself this momentary pleasure. The humiliation continued when he chose to stand and read my personal diary, something I've made a daily commitment to since the age of 12. I explained that this was private, but he continued to read my confidential exploits, closing with and what language is this written in sir?. Who was I meeting, what were their names, how long had I known them, what do they do, what do you do? It was a nightmare that I felt would never finish until I was allowed through after a 45-minute search.
..
Despite Albert Einstein once saying that education is what remains after one has forgotten everything one has learned in school, it's just been announced that my collaboration with choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh, Faultline, will be included on the AQA GCSE Dance syllabus from 2009. It will remain one of six choices on the syllabus for 6-7 years. Students will have to study both the choreography and the production itself, including all collaborating elements, so presumably the suffering of my musical elements will have a profound effect on future generations!
I've just extensively updated the MP3 section of the website so there's now an opportunity to listen and download a host of works, including a live recording from Philadelphia with violinist Todd Reynolds and our reworking of Gavin Bryars Sinking of the Titanic; a full length album, Publicphono, recorded live in Rimini Italy in 2000, and originally only available in an edition of 200 CD copies, and the results of my recording sessions in Moscow earlier this year.
..
I also recently contributed an essay for the new publication Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture (MIT) edited by Paul D Miller aka DJ Spooky, a collection of writings by a host of contributors. With topics are diverse as the contributors, you can read Brian Eno's history of bells, Pierre Boulez interviewed, Bruce Sterling on dead media, Laurie Anderson and many others. I wrote about my personal interest in ghosts in sound, described by Bookforum as an 'a contemplative mix of memoir, artistic philosophy, and technical practice' which is touching.
June brings with it some curious possibilities, focusing mostly on words and ideas. A trip to Vilnius Lithuania to speak about sound at the Contemporary Art Centre, followed by a very exploratory talk at the Purcell Room London entitled Harmonography about the meeting point of architecture and music, space and sound. Then speaking at the 176 Gallery London in respect to the show Past-Forward, about work that focuses on borrowing, manipulating and referencing everything from artworks, architecture, advertising, design, film and philosophy amongst others, and closing the month with a show in Rome with Kim Cascone colliding digital technology with future ideas.
In the meanwhile I'm off to buy a few more clothes for my suitcase!
Robin
..
::: listen ::: Arca: On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes (Ici d'Ailleurs) SND: 4,5,6 (SND) Nurse with Wound: Images Zero Mix (Beta-Lactam Ring) Sylvain Chauveau: Nuage (Type)
::: read ::: Branden W Joseph: Beyond the Dream Syndicate (Zone) Daniel J Levitin: This is Your Brain on Music (Atlantic) Marcel Dzama: Berliner Ensemble Thanks you All (McSweeney) Peter Biskind: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (Bloomsbury)
::: film::: Joy Division, Grant Gee, UK Iron Man, Jon Favreau, USA Sigur Ros: Heima, Dean Debois, Iceland The Savages, Tamara Jenkins, USA
::: Diary Dates :::
2008 01 June-Kirikou & Karaba Zenith D'Auvergne Toulouse FR 04 June-Kirikou & Karaba Le Zenith Toulouse FR 07 June-Kirikou & Karaba Patinoire Meriadeck Bordeaux FR 11 June-Lecture CAC Vilnius LI 11 June-Kirikou & Karaba Le Zenith Pau FR 13 June-Harmonography Presentation Purcell Room London UK 14 June-Kirikou & Karaba Espace Carat Angouleme FR 18 June-Kirikou & Karaba Le Zenith Limoges FR 19 June-Past Forward talk Project Space 176 London UK 27 June-Performance & talk Sguardi Sonori Rome IT 05 July-Big Dance Day Derby UK 12 July-Derby Spectacle Derby UK 02 Aug-BBC Proms talk on Stockhausen London UK 13 Sept-Of Air and Ear Royal Opera House London UK 18-19 Sept-Presentation Bergen National Academy of Arts NO 03 Oct-Merce Cunningham Talk Barbican London UK 11 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Ultima Festival Oslo NO 18 Oct-New work with Alter Ego Venice Biennale IT 30 Oct-2 Nov-Imageradio Eindhoven NL 07 Nov-Gaida Festival Vilnius LT 18-20 Nov-Presentation Virginia Commonwealth University USA
2009 13 Feb-The Missing with Troy Barnarzi Somerset House London UK 07 March-Live with Manuel Gottsching Royce Hall UCLA USA 26 March-Derby dance premiere of new work UK
Exhibitions
Waves-The Art of the Electromagnetic Society Phoenix Halle Dortmund Germany 10 May – 29 June 2008
Wireless communication is, in this day and age, a given in all realms of society. Yet what manner of artistic potential is presented by the electromagnetic waves perpetually enveloping us today? And how might these influence our psyche?
The exhibition brings together works of (media) art that deal with properties of waves in imaginative ways, exploring, making visible or making us feel waves on a host of different bands of the spectrum. In this exhibition electromagnetic waves are not just seen as carriers of information, but as the material and/or theme of the artwork. Featuring Breakthrough by Scanner, and works by Anthony McCall, Paul de Marinis, Marko Peljhan, Radioqualia, Farmersmanual, Jacob Kirkegaard and many others.
Night Haunts By Sukhdev Sandhu Design Mind Unit Sound Design Scanner
Artangel Interaction invited writer and historian Sukhdev Sandhu to write a nocturnal journal unfolding over the course of 2006. His postings will appear sequentially at this microsite specially designed by Mind Unit. Sandhu's forays see him prospecting in the London night with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, zookeepers and exorcists. Acclaimed artist and musician Scanner has collaborated with Sukhdev and Ian Budden of Mind Unit to compose the sound for the site.
Bittersweet Songs for the Sleepless City Artangel Interaction
NightJam is the latest project in Artangel Interaction's Nights of London series of artist-led collaborations with people who have a special view on a hidden side of the nocturnal city. Scanner invited young people at New Horizon Youth Centre in King's Cross to collaborate on a creative project that expresses how the city at night looks and sounds to their ears and eyes. Through music and voice workshops they explored the sense of freedom and fear, celebration and solitude of the concealing darkness. Meanwhile, they captured their nights on disposable cameras, taking images that are at times eerie, startling, contemplative and funny. NightJam presents two elusive visual and musical journeys through the city's 'quiet' hours.
NightJam presents two music tracks, a film, photographs, that can be experienced and freely downloaded. A limited edition CD is also being distributed for free through the website. Now featuring remixes of NightJam by Stephen Vitiello, Hakan Lidbo, Troy Banarzi, Si-cut.db and Pete Lockett.
Performance collaboration with filmmaker Olga Mink, exploring a more natural and emotional approach to digital arts. Recorded live at the Mapping Festival Geneva, 11 April 2008
You can download the latest edition of solipsistic NATION No. 86: Scanner (55 MB worth of stuff) featuring an extended Skype recorded interview and links to plenty of FREE Scanner MP3s.
The bugs continue to eat away at my health, so I’m back from traveling with another nasty virus, this time delivered fresh from Russia. March took me from a hurricane in Budapest where the windows in the hotel shook, the streets were paved with broken stone and glass and roads were closed due to damage, through Amsterdam, Moscow, St Petersburg and Eindhoven, and back to the rain and cold of London.
..
Russia was an adventure in sub-zero temperatures whilst running workshops for Podstantsiya, which means “substation” in Russian. This project had nothing to do with power stations or emergency departments though, but working with professionals and non-professionals on development of alternative broadcasting, and creating radio shows and stories. Based around a text from a prominent Russian futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov written in 1921 entitled "The Radio of the Future" each participant created a sound piece in response. You can freely download the presentation and recordings from these sessions if you wish.
I then gave public presentations of my work at the Bilingua club and the legendary Theremin Centre in Moscow. I must confess that I’ve never been asked such blunt questions as on this occasion: ‘Scanner - which are your favourite drugs?’ (Answer: None, since I don’t even drink tea or coffee) and my personal favourite ‘Scanner- how old were you when you lost your virginity?’ (Answer: Aged seven to our Swedish au-pair). Well, how else could one respond?
..
Performances of Stockhausen with percussionist Chris Cutler and Belgian pianist Daan Vandewalle at the Luminaire in London confounded and entertained in equal measure, whilst attending the opening of the gallery show Popshop at MU in Eindhoven entertained viewers with work on show reflecting on Kiss (Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard), Kylie Minogue (Kathy Temin), Whitney Houston (Candice Breitz), Guns ‘n Roses (Cory Arcangel) and Michael Jackson (Mr Scanner) and many others. It was like an eighties musical festival in a contemporary art gallery.
I’m off in early April to participate in the Qwartz Music Awards, which celebrates diversity and creative dynamics within contemporary music. I’m taking the role of President of Honour, so remember to call me President Scanner in future now , and then I’m back to Paris the following week for the premiere of a new ballet piece, Mariam, with choreographer Christine Bastin, and then a live performance with Tez at the Nemo Festival as part of Arcadi. In the midst of this I’m performing at the Mapping Festival in Geneva, which lays claim to having the second-highest quality of living in the world. Hope I can get to appreciate this.
..
Later this month I’ll be chairing a forum discussion between musician and theorist Brian Eno, his former tutor Tom Philips RA and architect Vesna Petresin Robert at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Opening with a live performance of John Cage’s seminal work 4’ 33” we will hopefully expand upon ideas of intellect, intervals and liberty within our environment, and looking at the relationship between buildings, music and performance.
For those of still aching for some more rock and roll antics then tune in to Radio New Zealand National, where you can hear a live Githeadsession we recorded. It’s available here as audio on demand at under ’G’ for Githead.
So, it’s back to the vitamins and medicine now.
Until next time
Robin
..
::: listen ::: The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent (2008) Fourtet: Ringer (Domino) Philip Jeck: Sand (Touch) Efterklang: Caravan (Leaf)
::: read ::: Paul D Miller: Sound Unbound (MIT) UOVO Magazine Issue 16 : Sound Postcards (Uovo) Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art (Merrell) 2 Kilo of Kesselskrammer (Pie Books)
::: film::: The City Speaks, Peter Ackroyd, UK Tell No One, Guillaume Canet,France The Dewey Cox Story, USA PU239, Scott K Burns, USA
::: Diary Dates :::
2008 03 April-Barbican talk Instructions for Modern Living London UK 04 April-President of Honneur Qwatz Music Awards Paris FR 10 April-Faultline dance Junction Cambridge UK 11 April-Mapping Festival Geneva CH 12 April-Mariam ballet le Café de la Danse Paris FR 13 April-Blindscape with Tez Nemo Festival Paris FR 19 April-Kirikou & Karaba Arena de Geneve CH 19-20 April-Future of Sound Valencia SP 21 April-Conversation with Brian Eno & Tom Philips Royal Academy London UK 23 April-Kirikou & Karaba Zenith de Strasbourg FR 23 April-Staging Sound talk Media Arts Bath UK 24 April-Dancers’ Cut Bridgwater Arts Centre Devon UK 30 April-Kirikou & Karaba Palais Nikaia Nice FR 03 May-May Ball Belfast N.Ireland 08 May-Future of Sound 11 Amsterdam NL 10 May-BFI Film event London UK 14 May-Kirikou & Karaba Zenith de Dijon FR 17 May-Kirikou & Karaba Summum Grenoble FR 24 May-Kirikou & Karaba Le Dome Marseille FR 28 May-Kirikou & Karaba Zenith Sud Montpelier FR 01 June-Kirikou & Karaba Zenith D’Auvergne Toulouse FR 04 June-Kirikou & Karaba Le Zenith Toulouse FR 07 June-Kirikou & Karaba Patinoire Meriadeck Bordeaux FR 11 June-Kirikou & Karaba Le Zenith Pau FR 12 June-Blindscape Slovenia 27 June-Performance & talk Sguardi Sonori Rome IT 02 Aug-BBC Proms talk on Stockhausen London UK 13 Sept-Deloitte Ignite Royal Opera House London UK 18-19 Sept-Presentation Bergen National Academy of Arts NO 30 Oct - 2 Nov-Imageradio Eindhoven NL 07 Nov-Gaida Festival Vilnius LT
2009 13 Feb-The Missing with Troy Barnarzi Somerset House London UK 07 March-Royce Hall UCLA with Manuel Gottsching LA USA 26 March-Derby dance premiere of new work UK
Exhibitions
Popshop MU Gallery Eindhoven NL
28 March - 04 May 2008
Group show of work that looks at the icons of mass culture in pop music, debuting Soul in Reverse, a new video work by Scanner that explores the image of Michael Jackson in popular culture, reversing his public image so that he begins as a white soul singer and ends up as a black artist. Other artists include Kathy Temin, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Cory Arcangel, Ho Tzu Nyen.
Night Haunts By Sukhdev Sandhu Design Mind Unit Sound Design Scanner
Artangel Interaction invited writer and historian Sukhdev Sandhu to write a nocturnal journal unfolding over the course of 2006. His postings will appear sequentially at this microsite specially designed by Mind Unit. Sandhu’s forays see him prospecting in the London night with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, zookeepers and exorcists. Acclaimed artist and musician Scanner has collaborated with Sukhdev and Ian Budden of Mind Unit to compose the sound for the site.
Bittersweet Songs for the Sleepless City Artangel Interaction
NightJam is the latest project in Artangel Interaction’s Nights of London series of artist-led collaborations with people who have a special view on a hidden side of the nocturnal city. Scanner invited young people at New Horizon Youth Centre in King’s Cross to collaborate on a creative project that expresses how the city at night looks and sounds to their ears and eyes. Through music and voice workshops they explored the sense of freedom and fear, celebration and solitude of the concealing darkness. Meanwhile, they captured their nights on disposable cameras, taking images that are at times eerie, startling, contemplative and funny. NightJam presents two elusive visual and musical journeys through the city’s ‘quiet’ hours.
NightJam presents two music tracks, a film, photographs, that can be experienced and freely downloaded. A limited edition CD is also being distributed for free through the website. Now featuring remixes of NightJam by Stephen Vitiello, Hakan Lidbo, Troy Banarzi, Si-cut.db and Pete Lockett.
thoughtful
voluminous
naughty
electric
pure