Internationally Acclaimed Artists Tune in to Frequency
News Release
5th October 2011
Digital composer Philip Jeck, who recently won an award for Digital Music and Sound Art at Ars Electronica 2011, is just one of a number of internationally acclaimed artists who have recently been confirmed for Frequency 2011.
Jeck along with BJ Nilsen and Charles Matthews will be exploring the magical acoustic properties of Lincoln Cathedral and revealing the wonders of the 'emperor of instruments', that with the greatest frequency range - the organ.
Spire - Live in Lincoln Cathedral will mark the start of Frequency 2011, Lincoln’s first ever Festival of Digital Culture (21st to 29th October) and set the tone for what promises to be an exciting programme of digital installations and live performances in unexpected spaces.
Also confirmed is The Icebook, created by Davy and Kristin McGuire, which has been described by The Guardian’s Lyn Gardner as “a charming fragile show”.
Davy McGuire is a film, animation and theatre maker and Kristin is a dancer, choreographer and lecturer in dance who has worked as a performer for Cirque du Soleil and many other international companies.
Internationally acclaimed, The Icebook is a pop-up book that comes to life in front of an audience's eyes as if by magic and tells the story of a princess who lures a boy into the forest in order to warm her heart of ice.
This will be the last ever performance of The Icebook, an intimate and immersive experience of film, theatre, dance, mime and animation designed for an audience of five to 12 people.
Composer, digital artist, educator and journalist Peter Kirn will also be performing a piece which has been specially commissioned for Frequency 2011.
Composed of samples recorded entirely in Lincolnshire, The Pool draws figuratively and sonically from the unseen significances of water in our surroundings at a time when global water access is an essential challenge for our civilization.
Sounds are gathered from the site of Louth's flood (at an abandoned water wheel) to Skegness’ shores and the coastal inlet near Boston where Pilgrims were captured as they sought freedom.
These samples are woven into soundscape and music via custom digital software. The title is both a nod to Lincoln and to the broader notion of water as a vessel for memory and history.
As well as work by international artists there will also be pieces by creative emerging talent including Lincoln-based Michelle Walsh.
Her first piece entitled The Empty Space consists of intimate moving portraits composed and lit like classical paintings.
Described as “disarming” and “unsettling”, this work explores our relationship to silence and simplicity while asking whether there really is anything enduring underneath, when the mask is stripped away.
In Walsh’s second piece, Out of nowhere, nothing answered, members of the public are invited one by one into an immersive, interactive environment where their mind becomes the trigger for a camera and a unique self-portrait.
Cutting-edge EEG technology monitors brain wave activity as participants are asked to relax their minds. ‘Cima Verde’ by pioneering sound recordist Chris Watson is used as a form of neurofeedback, dropping in volume as participants become calmer and more present.
The inaugural Frequency 2011 Digital Culture Festival aims to provide a foundation for a biennial event which will allow audiences to experience, explore and debate this new world of technology.
Other confirmed artists include a world-first from Metro-Boulout Dodo, Cypriot-Australian performance artist Stelarc, multidisciplinary British artist Luke Jerram, light sculptor Roseline de Thélin and new media and interaction researcher Alex Posada.
For more information or to find out how you can get involved in Frequency 2011 visit www.frequency.org.uk.
You can also keep up to date with all the latest news and confirmed artists at www.facebook.com/frequencyfestival and www.twitter.com/frequency_fest.
Notes for Editors
- Frequency 2011 is a partnership between University of Lincoln, The Collection, the Usher Gallery and Lincoln Drill Hall with Threshold Studios, an artist-led organisation supporting both emerging and established artists, taking the role of Festival Directors.
- This event is part of the Lincolnshire Showcase. The Showcase is made up of 12 very special arts projects which will travel through the county and are at the heart of Lincolnshire’s contribution to the Connecting Communities events, part of the Igniting Ambition programme. The Showcase is part of the Cultural Olympiad, which began in 2008, four years to the day to the opening of the Olympics. Connecting Communities takes place in 2011 in Lincolnshire, Rutland and Northamptonshire.
- Frequency 2011 is part of the Igniting Ambition Festival 2011, a Cultural Olympiad programme in the East Midlands which invests in projects and people that take the London 2012 Games as their inspiration to create once-in-a-lifetime cultural opportunities for audiences and communities.
- Igniting Ambition is funded by Legacy Trust UK, the European Regional Development Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency, with the support of Arts Council England and many others.
- Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK and is also a principal funder of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival. The Trust is funded by a £40 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund (£29m), Department for Culture Media and Sport (£6m) and Arts Council England (£5m).
- The ERDF programme aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by supporting regional economic development. For more information on ERDF funding generally, please visit www.erdf.communities.gov.uk
- The University of Lincoln is instrumental in bringing the Festival of Digital Culture to the city, and many academics and students from its Art, Architecture and Design faculty and its Media, Humanities and Technology faculty are taking part as artists as well as being involved in the planning. The University is committed to promoting the arts and has been a key driver in raising the city’s cultural offering since the institution’s establishment in 2001, notably with its Lincoln Academy series, its degree shows, sponsorship of the Lincoln Book Festival and European Festival of Arts and the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, one of the largest theatres in the region.
- Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, Arts Council England will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
- Lincolnshire County Council is a proud promoter of the county’s arts, culture and heritage. The authority manages many of Lincolnshire’s major cultural attractions, such as The Collection, Gainsborough Old Hall and Lincoln Castle, and also supports a number of initiatives across the county that help to increase access to the arts.
- Lincolnshire One Venues (LOV) exists to bring people the very best in arts and culture by working together to support, sustain and develop the arts and arts venues across Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire One Venues are: Stamford Arts Centre (Stamford), the South Holland Centre (Spalding), the Guildhall Arts Centre (Grantham), The Hub: National Centre for Craft and Design (Sleaford), Lincoln Drill Hall, the Embassy Theatre (Skegness), the Terry O’ Toole Theatre (North Hykeham), The Collection (Lincoln), Trinity Arts Centre (Gainsborough), Riverhead Theatre (Louth) and LPAC (Lincoln).
- The Frequency Associate Artists scheme has been funded by the Lincolnshire One programme which forms part of 21 national projects under the Arts Council England ‘Thrive’ programme that aims to strengthen the UK Arts sector and provide a unique opportunity for Arts organisations to develop, change and continuously improve.
For media enquiries please email press@frequency.org.uk or call
Jez Ashberry or Kate Strawson on 01522 528540.
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