The Drone Ensemble in Infinity Pitch, an exhibition by Pester & Rossi at The BALTIC

The Drone Ensemble were invited by the collaborative duo Pester & Rossi to host an experimental sound workshop for young gallery visitors during the Infinity Pitch exhibition at The BALTIC.

Pester & Rossi are asking visitors to make, break and re-make the rules of play. BALTIC’s largest gallery space has up to eight live action stations with activities where you can watch, listen, explore, improvise and play along with a number of enormous colourful inflatables.

We had planned a simple workshop structure that involved making megaphones for the children to use to mimic the sounds of the instruments. To make the megaphones we had prepared templates that could be used to trace the outline that was to be cut out of coloured card. Pester & Rossi have supplied rolls of coloured electrical tape for gallery visitors to use to transform the walls and floor of the gallery. This tape was also used to form and decorate the megaphones. The Drone Ensemble would perform a number of times throughout the duration of the workshop, following a score projected onto the walls and getting the children to participate at specific times. However, once we entered the space we soon realised that we would need to reassess our plans due to the existing noise levels, the nature of the space and the sheer number of children who desperately wanted to have a go at playing the instruments.

After setting up the instruments and observing how the space was being used, we had a group conflab and prepared our plan of action. Each of us was responsible for one type of instrument, and we were to demonstrate how to play the instrument. We encouraged the children (and adults) to try playing the instruments, and guided them as they did so.

I was very impressed by the children's abilities to learn how to play a new instrument, particularly the friction drums.

The gongs were extremely popular, and we were able to involve lots of the kids playing the gongs at once as we performed a number of gong parades around the gallery. Pester & Rossi have made a selection of costumes for visitors to wear, and so we encouraged the children to dress up in these. Armed with a gong in one hand, a beater in the other, and dressed in an array of brightly coloured red, green, yellow and blue outfits, we paraded around the gallery in single file making a rather colossal sound. 

The children enjoyed making the megaphones, and this activity was easy to manage as the instructions were very simple and did not require many materials or guidance. This meant that we could concentrate on playing the instruments with the children.

The workshop was a big success and Pester & Rossi were pleased with our contribution and response to their exhibition. We were exhausted afterwards, but would certainly consider doing more workshops in the future.

The Drone Ensemble prepares for BALTIC workshop

The collaborative artist duo Pester & Rossi have invited the The Drone Ensemble to lead an experimental sound making workshop as part of their current exhibition, Infinity Pitch, at BALTIC.

Sat 7 Apr 14.00-17.00
Drone Ensemble
Infinity Ensemble experimental sound making workshop

Yesterday we had another workshop planning meeting where we prepared the props we will be using in the workshop, confirmed the logistics, booked the van and developed the score for the performance that will take place as part of the workshop.

It was a really productive session, and I'm hopeful that it will go down well with visitors.

For more information about the event visit
http://baltic.art/whats-on/infinity-pitch

Play by your own rules - The Drone Ensemble collaborate with Pester & Rossi at The BALTIC

Infinity Pitch
Pester & Rossi

24 March – 15 April 2018

Pester & Rossi have invited The Drone Ensemble and a group of other collaborators to make, break and re-make the rules of play. Their forthcoming exhibition, Infinity Pitch, will involve up to eight live action stations and big, fun, colourful inflatables across BALTIC’s largest gallery space. Visitors will be able to take part in activities where they can watch, listen, explore, improvise and play.

Infinity Pitch is for everyone and open daily. No need to book, just drop-in.

Sat 7 Apr 14.00-17.00
Drone Ensemble
Infinity Ensemble experimental sound making workshop

For more information please visit

http://baltic.art/whats-on/exhibitions/infinity-pitch

A Bodyssey Odyssey Choir

At the weekend I participated in A Bodyssey Odyssey Choir, a singing workshop and performance led by artist Ditte Goard in response to A Bodyssey Odyssey, the current exhibition at BALTIC 39 by Pester & Rossi.

"The event was curated by Gayle Meikle as part of BxNU Respond, an ongoing dialogue between current Northumbria University post-graduate students and PhD researchers and the exhibitions in BALTIC’s Project Space, BALTIC 39.

Newcastle based Ditte Goard was asked to lead a singing workshop resulting in a performance to which members of the public could attend. Ditte works collaboratively with vocal performance and costume to explore ideas of 'folk' - especially folk song and storytelling. Going against our hierarchical and materialistic world, 'folk' traditions belong to no one and yet to anyone who claims it, without authority or regulation. Goard seeks to discover whether this autonomous activity can be used to give agency to both performer and audience, expand our engagement in political ideas and ultimately foster our sense of identity and independence."

There were about 20 people taking part in the workshop, a mixture of male and female, artists and non-artists, singers and non-singers. The presence of children in the group encouraged the adults to lose any inhibitions and enter in the playful spirit of the event.

We began the workshop with some warm-up exercises. Ditte had selected the song 'Women of the world' by Ivor Cutler for us to perform.

"Women of the world take over
'Cos if you don't, the world will come to an end
and it won't take long
and it won't take long"

Once we had learned the song, we decided on the actions that would accompany our singing.

We began stationary and low on the floor, humming. One by one we began singing the Ivor Cutler song, and it was during this that we started to move around the gallery space. Within the performance space we had an array of props and costumes made by Pester & Rossi for the exhibition. As we circulated the space, we began to adorn ourselves and each other with these various items and materials. There was a range of coloured face paints and pots of coloured glitter for us to use. These proved very popular with the children, and the adults were quick to join in. In the next 10 minutes or so the group entered into some kind of ritualistic activity. Although we were all singing the same song, we had started singing at different times, so it was a multilayered round that somehow sounded like a meditative chant. We interacted with each other, painting each others faces, putting garments on each other, scattering glitter over each other and so forth. At one point, one individual laid on the floor and we began walking round them in a circle as if in a form of worship. 

The introduction of party poppers signalled the time for us to stop singing and return to the humming as at the beginning. We removed the various costumes, props and materials we were each wearing, and used the supply of sweeping brushes to gather the glitter and party popper ribbons into a pile. Gradually we all slowed down and took a static position on the floor. Our humming simultaneously became quieter until it stopped completely, marking the end of the performance.

The description above does not do justice to what happened, but I guess that is often the case with art. There was a bond between the performers, even though we had only met as a group less than three hours earlier.

I was surprised to realise the size of the audience that had gathered to witness the performance. Probably the youngest member of the audience (no older than 1 years old) joined in the performance in the latter stages. Not yet able to walk, she shuffled along the floor, thoroughly enjoying covering herself in glitter. 

What a wonderful way to begin the weekend. It certainly made me twinkle inside and out! Thanks to all those who made it happen.

Pester & Rossi present 'A Bodyssey Odyssey' at Baltic 39

Glasgow-based collaborative duo Pester & Rossi have been residents in the project space at Baltic 39 since mid- September.

The artists have used the gallery as a studio space, giving the audience a glimpse into their do-it-yourself approach and low-fi working methods. 

"Pester & Rossi make work that spans sculpture, performance and installation using a wide variety of media. Immersive performances and social experiments are rooted in a do-it-yourself approach with ideas connected to childhood nostalgia, public ceremony and a celebration of the home-made. Often using imagery and props relating to the body, along with its physical and metaphorical associations, they provide a sense of familiarity for the audience, all the while generating irony and humour."

Throughout their residency Pester and Rossi have hosted a couple of performances with other artists. Last night all these artists were brought together for the ultimate 'A Bodyssey Odyssey'.


Belinda Gilbert Scott created the impressive scenic backdrop, out of which the performers entered the stage, and into which they retreated at the end, along with the giant inflatable.

"By using her experience as a scenic painter, Gilbert Scott has begun to paint backcloths, the cloths, draping from the wall to the floor, are cut into, releasing the image from the background and positioning it in the space. The viewer is allowed to walk upon and between the painted surfaces. This expresses the feeling of wanting to physically get into an imaginary space. This is also a response to the gallery setting and counteracts the reverence and untouchability of painting, allowing the audience to enter into a playful relationship with the work. By introducing physical space into the work, the paintings can also become theatrical settings. This has opened up the opportunity to work collaboratively."

A couple of Sarah Kenchengton's amazing sound generating inventions shared the stage alongside the more traditional musical instruments played by Fallopé and The Tubes.

"Sarah Kenchington builds her own remarkable mechanical instruments, including a pedal-powered hurdy-gurdy, a giant rotating kalimba and her own brass band, powered by tractor inner-tubes."

These produced the less easily definable noises that fitted so well with the aesthetic of the rest of the set.

Having performed alongside Stasis in Circus Between Worlds in Glasgow earlier this year, I knew I was in for a treat when I saw that they were on the line up. 

They did not fail to deliver, performing a highly energetic performance involving boxing gloves. The way in which they managed to physically carve out space in the gallery was impressive, forcing the audience to alter their viewing positions.



The whole evening was a visual and audio delight, full of experimentation, exploration, energy and fun.

PMP | Forever Together - M I L K, Seize Projects, Pester & Rossi, McGilvary/White

M I L K, Seize Projects, Pester & Rossi, McGilvary/White
Discussion Chaired by Lloyd & Wilson

The objective of this event was to explore means, mediums and modes of artistic collaboration. Artists discussed collaborative efforts, successful and not. What went right, what went wrong and the joys of a shared creative process.

This event was programmed with M I L K alongside their exhibition This Is It, Isn’t It? the first of 3 exhibitions they have curated as part of their takeover at Workplace Gateshead. This Is It, Isn’t It? Explores ideas of self-doubt, self-awareness and self-reflexivity as a core of artistic practice.

M I L K were joined by Pester and Rossi, Seize Projects and McGilvary/White, and a discussion will be chaired by Lloyd & Wilson.

Ideas around collaborative practice quite often occupy my thoughts. This event yet again prompted me to think about 
- the difference between collectives and collaborations
- individual and collaborative practice and how artists can operate in both fields
- the audience as a collaborator
- friendship and collaboration - does it make it or break it?
- authorship
- identity, ego, 
- committees and collectives