News

brighton festival fringe 2008

Spacedog and friends present the Sputnik II Memorial Session at the Brighton Festival Fringe. Venue: The Sanctuary Cafe, Wednesday 14 May.

BUY TICKETS HERE

A medley of space songs, torch songs and eerie English folk songs, all performed in Spacedog's signature style. Theremins, vocals, waterphone, guitar and musical saw are among the delights. Includes a live performance by Clara 2.0, the theremin-playing robot doll. The lineup: Jenny Angliss (vocals), Ben Kypreos and Mike Blow (guitar), Sarah (theremin, saw and keyboard) and Clara 2.0. Compere: Colin Uttley.

Also read about a sneak preview at Atters' Other World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machines not Angels at the Sonic Arts Expo, 2008

Scattered widely across a room, forty handbells will play automatically in this new installation of generative music with a strong physical and spatial identity. For the Sonic Arts Expo, Brighton, July 2008.

This new piece, Machines not Angels, recycles the bells and playing mechanism used in Swinging London, my family-friendly automaton show for the South Bank Centre, London. Here, I'll be using the bells to play my own compositions. Mesh x-bee technology will be used to trigger the bells wirelessly, so they play in ensemble without any visible means of communication. I hope this real, extreme spatialisation and mysterious means of communication will have an unsettling effect on the audience.

More details to follow

SENSTER AT SCIENCE OXFORD

The Senster team reassembled for a final performance of this highly entertaining show at Science Oxford, 1 May.

Named in honour of the original cybernetic sculpture by Edward Ihnatowicz, Senster is a live show that's packed with curiosities - from theremins and waterphones to the sonic tendril and digital swarm. This 75-minute event mixes live music and drama with the group's own take on robotics and digital art.

Further details and booking info

Sponsored by a Wellcome Trust Engaging Science People Award

 

Icot SAlon, leicester

I'll be giving a live demo and lecture about interaction beyond the screen and mouse. At the Institute of Creative Technologies Salon, Leicester, 6pm Thursday 10 April.

Free event - details here. Email to reserve a seat

Vladimir Gavreau, infrasound researcher

 

Clara 2.0 g0es 'stand alone'

Work is underway to make Clara 2.0 better at working straight out of the box. For those of your interested in her welfare: I'm currently replacing her Max/MSP patch with a stand-alone circuit that will compare her pitch to the desired pitch in real-time and control the servo driving her dolly arm. This is part of ongoing work to reduce the laptop count on stage and make Clara 2.0 more roadworthy for touring shows.

Read more about Clara 2.0

See a video of Clara 2.0 in action

Clara 2.0

 

Live at bom-bane's

Spacedog and friends have been making occasional appearances at Rosi's Tinted Spectacles, a live music night in the theatre space downstairs at Bom-Bane's cafe-restaurant, Brighton. The line up varies but has included Jenny Angliss on vocals, Ben Kypreos or Colin Uttley on guitar and Sarah on theremin, waterphone and saw.

Find out about future gigs - a small venue, booking essential.

Bom-Bane's cafe-restaurant, Brighton

 

performance at quake festival

Revolution for clogs and video loops was the closing act of the Quake 07 Dance Festival, Derby. I joined performer Caroline Radcliffe for a live performance of this piece.

new science museum exhibit

Spacedog recently unveilled a playful exhibit, exploring sound. For Launch Pad, the Science Museum's newly refurbished hands-on gallery. Visitors move wooden blocks around a chunky table to slow sounds down and speed them up. Line up blocks on a grid and you can create your own own looping, musical track from barks, farts, bells and a host of other noises, playing at fast and slow speeds. Waveforms of the sounds play in real-time.

As featured on Radio 4 Front Row (where members of Franz Ferdinand could be heard making a cow sound like a chicken). Exhibit created in collaboration with Gavin Morris.

Details and pictures to follow

 

nesta crucible lab

Spacedog presented a live show about interdisciplinary working at NESTA Crucible Lab, Dartington, December 07.

Crucible Lab brings early-career researchers together and encourages innovative problem-solving.

 

South Bank automaton show:
Swinging London

A mini, automatic puppet show in a shed, created on a shoestring budget for the South Bank Centre, summer 2007. The brief was to come up with something novel inside a garden shed that would celebrate the area and appeal to families.

The show features London luminaries, past and present, dancing in go-go style. It also features a mini carillon (automatic bell-playing machine).

Read more and see a video of the show

Watching the puppets in the Swinging London shed, South Bank Overture Weekend, 2007. The festival celebrated the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall.