Final day to see Northern Nori at Great North Museum: Hancock

Sunday 9th September is the final day of Which Way North at Great North Museum:Hancock, and therefore is your last opportunity to see Northern Nori.

It's been an amazing honour to exhibit alongside such well-respected artists, designers and innovators. I would like to thank Which Way North Curator, Grainne Sweeney for commissioning me. Thanks also to Paul Fox at the Great North Museum:Hancock, for all his assistance.

Last week to visit Northern Nori at Great North Museum: Hancock

It is the final week of Which Way North at the Great North Museum: Hancock, featuring my work, Northern Nori.

Image courtesy of Colin Davidson

The exhibition, which takes over the whole of the museum, shows how this part of the country has shaped our present and is inspiring our future.

Featuring 250 high-profile loans from over 100 leading museums, galleries and private collections, the exhibition includes astronaut Helen Sharman’s space suit, the last piano played by John Lennon, original models of Postman Pat, and John Hancock’s Struggle with the Quarry, which was part of the original Great Exhibition in 1851.

The show takes its inspiration from the Duchess of Newcastle’s 1666 novel The Blazing World, thought to be one of the earliest works of science fiction. Visitors will find a 1668 edition of the book at their starting point, as well as other items they might need for an adventure, including the 11th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and a fan showing a map of the North from 1778.

The exhibition journeys through a number of themed interventions, including To the Moon and Back, Buried Treasures, Human Machine Motion and This Kingdom Called Home, an emporium dedicated to Northern achievements that have influenced the way we live.



https://getnorth2018.com/events/which-way-north/

Opening of Which Way North at the Great North Museum: Hancock

Thursday night was the VIP preview of the exhibition 'Which Way North' at the Great North Museum: Hancock. 

I felt rather out of place, but ever so honoured to have been commissioned to make a work for such an important museum and for it to be amongst such an amazing selection of objects and artworks by artists such as Ryan Gander, Andy Lomas and Barbara Hepworth.

After all, how often is my work going to be sandwiched between Helen Sharman’s Zvezda Sokol space suit and Damien Hirst's shark (Heaven)!

https://getnorth2018.com/events/to-the-moon-and-back/

Feeling honoured to be exhibiting alongside some of the greats

Sneak peek at Which Way North

On Thursday I met one of the Project Managers working on the Which Way North exhibition that is being installed at The Great North Museum: Hancock to discuss some of the practicalities of installing my artwork. I was excited to get a sneak peek at the exhibition during the install process. There is a heavy security presence guarding the amazing range of objects and artworks that are going to be included in the exhibition, and I felt rather privileged to be allowed into the gallery. 

I was taken to the case that my work is going to be mounted in, and we sorted out the best way to hang the work. We had to change the plans for the way that the work would be mounted, so I headed off to the studio to collect one of the test pieces and returned to the gallery with magnets and washers. We tested whether this combination would be an effective solution, and were all relieved to find that it would work without damaging the artwork. The Lighting Technician is going to adjust the lighting of the case so the work can be seen in the way that I intend.

I'm going back on Monday to install the work proper, and am looking forward to seeing it in place.

The Drone Ensemble performance at the Great North Museum: Hancock on 13th December, 6-8pm

An Artistic Encounter
Wednesday 13th December, 6pm-8pm
Great North Museum: Hancock


On Wednesday 13th December The Drone Ensemble will be performing as part of An Artistic Encounter, an evening of contemporary art and live music staged amongst the collections of the Great North Museum: Hancock.

It is hosted by Connecting Principle, the multi-disciplinary research forum at Newcastle University.

The digital artworks showcased will be set in dialogue with the museum's rich collections of natural history, archaeology, geology and world cultures.



Visual artists:

Aurelio Andrighetto, Enrique Azocar, Murray Ballard, Daniel Brown, Irene Brown, Keith Brown, Paul Bush, Roi Carmeli, Chris Cornish, Juliet Flemming, Andrea Frank, Nils Guadagnin, Lois Hobby, Michael Jank, Ant Macari, Simon Martin, Jasmine Matthews, Michael Mulvihill, Colin Priest, Claudia Sacher, Sabina Sallis, Wolfgang Weileder, Albert Weis, Louise Winter

With live music:

The Drone Ensemble and The Improvisors’ Workshop Ensemble

The project builds on a collaborative research project between Newcastle University, Montpellier University, La Panacée: Centre d’art contemporaine, Montpellier, and the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Montpellier Agglomeration. In an exhibition staged in University of Montpellier’s medieval libraries, a series of newly commissioned artworks were presented in response to artefacts held in their historical scientific, medical and art collections.

Connecting Principle is an art centred international multi-disciplinary research forum at Newcastle University instigating a dialogue between art and other disciplines. The aim of the forum is to increase opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration within academia and independently. Connecting Principle sees itself as an international network of artists, theorists and researchers.

https://greatnorthmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/an-artistic-encounter

Wildlife Discotheque at the Great North Museum:Hancock

Tyneside Sounds Society and Devon based community radio station Soundart Radio teamed up to present the Wildlife Discotheque at the Great North Museum:Hancock



The Wildlife Discotheque was billed as "a sonic extravaganza and unique listening experience that will guide you through the esoteric and lost world of vinyl wildlife recordings and spoken word albums."

Devon based Soundart Radio founder Chris Booth and DJs Nathan Carter and Tony Whitehead developed The Wildlife Discotheque.




"Wildlife Discotheque plots the course of the often neglected and overlooked history of nature sound recording and the pioneers who spent hours in the field with cumbersome gear and an ear for sound and song. Names such as Ludwig Koch, Eric Simms and the Woodland Bird BBC Series, Victor C Lewisand his Bird Sounds in Close Up. John Burton and David Tombs - British Wild Birds in Stereo, Sture Palmer and Jeffery Boswelland the seminal Field Guide to the Birds of the British Isles. Alongside these, many lesser know names and releases; Ray Goodwin’s - A Gloucestershire Wildlife Tapestry, the delicate sounds of British Wild Mammal and Amphibians and not to forget……Johnny Morris and Animal Magic."




Tony Whitehead, Soundart Radio “Not knowing if there was an audience for such an eclectic, and obscure mix of sounds we were pleasantly surprised when our first night attracted a crowd, an appreciative bunch who filled the room, sat, chatted, drank local ale and cider, listened and had a good time. I didn’t notice dancing, but we did have a couple of requests. We’re really excited to be taking this on the road and Great North Museum will be a fantastic venue for it!"


Author, Sunday Times and Guardian Columnist Tom Cox“Properly Psychedelic!”



Listen to the first Wildlife Discotheque here

Having attended one of the other Tyneside Sounds Society events I was keen to be introduced to a new sonic experience and hear some unusual field recording. Although it was advertised as a family friendly event, I was expecting the audience to consist of others interested in sound and field recording. It was great to see lots of children attending and participating in the craft activities that were provided for them, but I felt that this conflicted with my ability to fully appreciate the sound aspect of the event as the subtleties of the recordings were lost due to the excited children who were running around enjoying the event. Unfortunately, I felt that by making the event family friendly, it actually compromised a major aspect of the event. I would have rather it have been concentrated just on children, or focus more on the sound part and allow those who want to listen to be able to! Another frustration of mine was that I didn't know what I was listening (or trying to listen) to. It would have been good to have a description of what the recording was, or a brief introduction to each piece before it was played.

In theory I think this kind of event is an excellent idea, but I hope that the organisers would consider their target audience and adjust the nature of the event appropriately.