PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 12 April 2007
Sonic Arts Network & i-DAT present: Expo Plymouth www.sonicartsnetwork.org/expo 22 – 25 June 2007 The Expo festival makes landfall in Plymouth for a packed weekend of free installations, sonic ferry tours, performances, exhibitions, happenings, a large-scale sonic picnic, workshops, gigs, presentations and DJ sets. Expo is the hub and playground of the experimental music and sound art scene in the UK and beyond. Free and open to all, the event mobilises a national network of artists and engages with communities from all backgrounds – placing sonic art and the people who make it in direct contact with the public. Delve into the delights of Expo Plymouth and explore the eclectic range of events programmed throughout the weekend including sonic ferry tours, amplified marble races, 60 robotic birds, sonic river wading and an interactive sound see-saw. Bring your swimming costumes and participate in the sonic swim at the Lido or listen to an orchestra of roving performers led by semaphore signals. Installations not to be missed include a raisin dispensing vending machine, sonic photographs, sub bass triggered animated fish, a voicemangling hot dog cart, giant sound reactive inflatables and a pirate mini-opera as well as a sonic picnic for all the family. Stepping out from traditional venues and into spaces that lie at the heart of the urban landscape, Expo inspires practitioners and the public to reconsider their environments and explore the possibilities of sound. Highlights of this year’s Expo festival include: Friday 22 June Evan Parker and the Behaviour Ensemble Terraces Café, Plymouth Hoe 7.30pm – 8.30pm Plymouth Sound becomes the backdrop for this festival launch fanfare and outdoor site– specific performance by free improvisation legend Evan Parker and 17 strong cracked electronics ensemble, Behaviour. Saturday 23 June Lock, Stock and Barrel The New Cooperage Building, Royal William Yard, Stonehouse 12.30pm – 5.30pm Expo refills this historic space, once the backbone of the British Navy, with sound and activity, curating a packed programme of sonic production. This event will include a brand new festival installation featuring 60 robotic birds by Jane Edden, Dada spirited high jinx
sonic arts network the jerwood space 171 union street london SE1 0LN t: 44 (0)20 7928 7337 www.sonicartsnetwork.org honorary patron karlheinz stockhausen Page 1/4
from Patrizia Paolini and the celebrated Adam Bohman, amplified marble races, river wading and groundbreaking research into conceptual sonic photography. Sunday 24 June Sonic Picnic Western King Point, Stonehouse 1pm- 5pm A Sunday afternoon public intervention in this disused military installation. Bring a hamper, entertain the kids, walk the dog and enjoy an afternoon of outdoor sonic art. Highlights of this surreal happening include mutilated trombone and electronic sound from Tom Bugs and Hilary Jeffery, an orchestra of roving performers led by semaphore signals, a pirate mini – opera and a see-saw reimagined as a multichannel interactive sound installation. Other Expo attractions: Louise K Wilson Tinside Lido Audio-cultural archaeologist Louise K Wilson launches a new Expo commissioned installation that traces the resonances of sound, memory and meaning echoing through the bricks of this extraordinary, newly restored public space. Bring your bathers for a Saturday morning swim! Sonic Ferry Take a seafaring audio ride from Plymouth Hoe to the Royal William Yard festival sites on the Expo Sonic Ferry. Laptop duo The Splicegirls provide the soundtrack to your seaborne journey. Expo Late Three nights of ear and eye bending late entertainment. A fringe night featuring local labels, DJs and artists at Fandangos. Multichannel sound and video abuse with a sonic jigsaw and a 6 turntable freakout thrown in for good measure at The Hub. Grizzled noise punks battle for breath with electronic improvisers and circuit bending pranksters at the White Rabbit in the brutalist surroundings of Plymouth central bus station. Acts featured over the three nights include Semiconductor, Portable, Icarus, Grewtronic and Monstrous Little Women. Expo Youth With the support of Creative Partnerships, a diverse range of Plymouth’s young people of all ages muscle in on Expo adding a virulent avant-local twist to our programme. Their work features sub bass triggered animated fish, raisin situationism at Devil’s Point, a voicemangling hot dog cart and giant sound reactive inflatables.
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Distributed City Web based interventions, sound walks and city-wide spontaneous performances. We listen to Plymouth and Plymouth listens to us. Expo Conference Day Monday 25 June University of Plymouth 10.00am-5.30pm A day of research presentations exploring sound in space and perceptions of the aural experience with guest speaker Leigh Landy (Organised Sound/ De Montfort University).
ALL EXPO EVENTS ARE FREE See www.sonicartsnetwork.org/expo for a full festival programme and further details on joining the mailing list.
_____________________________________END____________________________________ For further information and press images, please contact Maryam Asghari, Marketing & PR Officer. Tel: 020 7928 7337 or Email: maryam@sonicartsnetwork.org Website: www.sonicartsnetwork.org
Additional Information
Expo is supported by: Arts Council England, i-DAT, PRSF, Creative Partnerships, Plymouth City Council, Bath Spa University, Deep Blue Sound, Urban Splash and University of Plymouth. Sonic Arts Network Sonic Arts Network is a national organisation that enables both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound in diverse, accessible and innovative ways. Sonic Arts Network fosters a culture of creative risk taking and experimental approaches to sound through a cutting edge programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects. The organisation believes in the unique capacity of listening to enrich people’s lives by unlocking creativity, promoting social and environmental awareness and engaging a diverse range of communities. For more information on Sonic Arts Network, please visit the website: www.sonicartsnetwork.org.
sonic arts network the jerwood space 171 union street london SE1 0LN t: 44 (0)20 7928 7337 www.sonicartsnetwork.org honorary patron karlheinz stockhausen
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To receive the Sonic Arts Network information pack and press photos please email: maryam@sonicartsnetwork.org.
About Expo “A must-have event for all artists and for the nation” Kevin Malone Now in its 10th year, Expo is the hub and playground of the experimental music and sound art scene in the UK and beyond. Free and open, the event mobilises a national network of artists and engages with communities from all backgrounds – placing sonic art and the people who make it in direct contact with the public. Expo steps out from traditional venues and into spaces that lie at the heart of the community - inspiring practitioners and the public to reconsider their environments. Expo 2006 was the largest and most successful so far and explored the inner, outer and public spaces of Manchester. The festival included sound installations at the Cornerhouse by Berlin based sound art collective Staalplaat Soundsystem who presented The Ultrasound of Therapy; Bob Levene’s newly commissioned work The Space Between – Experiments for Speakers and Helmut Lemke’s new work KLANGELN 7. There was also a performance by Norwegian female electro/instrumental improv group Spunk and Birmingham sound arts activists Dreams of Tall Buildings performing the first graphic score in 40 years by Fluxus maverick and founder of legendary band ‘United States of America’, Joseph Byrd. Victoria Baths, winner of BBC’s 2004 Restoration competition, saw over 600 people attend a day of site-specific happenings that utilised the spaces and unique acoustics of this beautiful listed building with a programme of performances and installations.
sonic arts network the jerwood space 171 union street london SE1 0LN t: 44 (0)20 7928 7337 www.sonicartsnetwork.org honorary patron karlheinz stockhausen
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