The Occasion Collective - SLOW at Durham Castle

Last Saturday evening I had the pleasure of experiencing SLOW, an immersive live sound performance and promenade held in the majestic grandeur of Durham Castle, hosted by The Occasion Collective (TOC).

"TOC is a curatorial and practice-based artist-led collective which provides artists with the opportunity to exhibit, develop and collaborate.with a focus on engaging new audiences with spectacular and speculative creative practice. TOC champions transdisciplinary collaboration, and creates a much-needed platform for artists of varied disciplines for mutual benefit."

SLOW by Jamie Cook, looks to explore the possibilities of acoustic/electronic collaboration through large-scale, immersive, meditative, promenade performance and installation. Cook’s work often utilises mixed media collaboration, exploring the relationships between art/music/dance/film and how the lines between these practises can be blurred to create new and interesting possibilities.

In response to Cook's work, the history and heritage of Durham Castle and it's surrounding research, TOC artists Bex Harvey, James Pickering and Adam Goodwin displayed a number of audio-visual installations. 

As the musicians played in the Castle's Great Hall, the complex, poly-rhythmic, surround-sound textures created were channelled throughout the winding stairs and underground chapel and a number of other hidden locations within the Castle grounds. The Castle came alive and there was a really special vibe as people bustled round trying to find all that was to be seen. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was not expecting for it to be as extensive as it was. The only slight downsides were that it was very difficult to hear the audio from the videos as the audio from the Great Hall was so well circulated throughout the entire Castle. 

My other mildly critical comment would be that it would have been useful to know how many video works or other artworks there were to find. A map would have guided us round, but I appreciate that the artists may have wanted for things to be less obvious and add to the sense of discovery as one wanders around.

SLOW - Composed by Jamie Cook

Performed by

Jamie Cook (electronics)

Will Hammond (vibraphone)

Merle Harbron (fiddle)

Ceitidh Macleod (cello)

Adam Sams (bass clarinet)










https://youtu.be/YSlu5WpGZJQ

Cooking with Three performance in The Bottomless Pit of Outros

Cooking With Three are a mixed-media improve. ensemble that work loosely with dance, visuals and sound, directed by Jamie Cook. Collaboration is a key element of the group's process, with core members Lizzie J Klotz (dance), Adam Goodwin (visuals) and Jamie Cook (sound) inviting members of all disciplines to an open fortnightly forum to improvise together and develop interdisciplinary improvised performance.

The 'Echoes of Abstraction and the Bottomless Pit of Outros' performance was fully improvised, realised amongst the exhibition, responded to the work as well and the unique space and audience at the Laing.

Echoes of Abstraction II and The Bottomless Pit of Outros brings together newly commissioned work by artists Jamie Cook, Adam Goodwin, James Pickering and Paul Trickett, alongside highlights from the Laing Art Gallery’s modern and contemporary painting collection. The exhibition explores and is inspired by the legacy of abstract art, and has been organised in partnership with The Laing Art Gallery.

Echoes of Abstraction II and The Bottomless Pit of Outros at Laing Art Gallery

'Echoes of Abstraction II and The Bottomless Pit of Outros brings together newly commissioned work by artists Jamie Cook, Adam Goodwin, James Pickering and Paul Trickett, alongside highlights from the Laing Art Gallery’s modern and contemporary painting collection. The exhibition explores and is inspired by the legacy of abstract art, and has been organised by The NewBridge Project in partnership with The Laing Art Gallery.

Collection works featured in the exhibition chart the gradual shift from representation to abstraction, arguably one of the most influential artistic developments of the twentieth century. More recent works illustrate how, to this day, abstraction is used to various degrees, from relatively minor formal alterations in otherwise realistic works, to completely abstract compositions in which the painting bears no resemblance to the real world. Highlight works include paintings by Francis Bacon, David Bomberg, Patrick Heron, Chris Ofili, Prunella Clough, Ben Nicholson, Mark Gertler and Frank Auerbach.

Contemporary artists Cook, Goodwin, Pickering and Trickett join forces as The Occasion Collective to experiment with notions of reality and the natural and artificial worlds, bringing together art and technology. In response to the Laing’s collection works and the theme of abstraction’s long legacy they have made a new interactive installation of sound, image, object and digital experience entitled The Bottomless Pit of Outros.

They have created a virtual reality rendering of the Laing’s grand Edwardian gallery suites, in which works from the collection can be reimagined in an ever-changing virtual display.

The partnership between the Laing Art Gallery and The NewBridge Project has been devised with the dual aim of supporting emerging artists from the region, as well as creating a new platform for The NewBridge Project at a time of both flux and renewed ambition as they relocate to new premises at Carliol House, Market Street.'

It is a really impressive installation that works especially well in the context of the Laing as opposed to a white cube gallery space. The vibrant modern interiors created by The Occasion Collective contrast with the traditional interior of the Laing Gallery, and made me consider the collection works in a new manner which I enjoyed.

In this instance I did not find that the virtual reality added anything to my experience of the work. I find myself being impressed by the technological complexities, but find virtual reality difficult to respond on a more artistic level. 

I'm looking forward to a couple of the associated forthcoming programmed events alongside this exhibition:

Cooking with Three performance in The Bottomless Pit of Outros
The Laing Art Gallery
Saturday 12 August, 6-7pm

Cooking With Three are a mixed-media improv ensemble that work loosely with dance, visuals and sound, directed by Jamie Cook. Collaboration is a key element of the group’s process, with core members Lizzie J Klotz (dance), Adam Goodwin (visuals) and Jamie Cook (sound) inviting members of all disciplines to an open fortnightly forum to improvise together and develop interdisciplinary improvised performance.

The ‘Echoes of Abstraction II and the Bottomless Pit of Outros’ performance will be fully improvised, realised amongst the exhibition, responding to the work as well and the unique space and audience at the Laing.

http://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/cooking-three-performance-bottomless-pit-outros/

| PMP | ‘the listening room‘ – conversation
The NewBridge Project
Saturday 19 August, 5pm

For this salon style event everyone is invited to come along to discuss the role of located & performance-based sound in the contemporary sonic arts.

Jez Riley French will be on hand to present a talk on some of aspects of his work with extended listening & recording, and to highlight some key artists working with located sound. The talk will then lead us into an open conversation where everyone is welcome to contribute. Whatever your interest in sound come along with questions or comments for us all to discuss.

http://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/pmp-listening-room-conversation-jez-riley-french/

The Drone Ensemble play in UnEarth II at Alphabetti Theatre on Saturday 14th January 2017

A night of experimental music from the North

When: Saturday 14th January 2017
Show begins: 7:30pm 
Tickets: £5 from:  https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/162197 or on the door
Age recommendation: 18+

UnEarth, presented by TOC (The Occasion Collective) will be the second of a series of experimental music events at Alphabetti Theatre, showcasing some of the North’s experimental and electronic musicians from the fields of coding, improvisation and more.

A special late licence has been arranged so the music can continue until 2am!

Line-up:

Cooking with Faye

A Newcastle based improvisation ensemble, creating spontaneous soundscapes and beats. The band is made up of electronics, sax + collaborators.

Some Some Unicorn

Some Some Unicorn has evolved from an online collaborative project into a free flowing collective of improvising musicians, poets and artists who value shared experience and community.

The Drone Ensemble

The Drone Ensemble are an experimental sound group that design, make and combine installation and performance on unique sound instruments. The simple form of a drone ignites a capacity for a sound­scape that, during performance, allows freedom from rigid harmonic and rhythmic progression. 

Unfortunately I wont be able to play as I am at work, but if Monday's rehearsals are anything to go by, it is set to be a great night, so go along and enjoy!

Drone Ensemble at The Occasion Collective, Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle, 29th July 2016

Here's a video of the Drone Ensemble playing at The Occasion Collective, Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle on Friday 29th July 2016




https://youtu.be/h_AfELaE7OY