hippo birdwings is being shown as part of this year’s east end film festival. it is part of the whirlygiggles programme in the festival’s movie mayday. the event is at the verge bar, 144 bethnal green road at the top of brick lane on monday 2nd may. it starts at 4pm. go and see it with other funny short films too. it is free
the one string bass guitar piece which i designed with bailey guitars and commissioned them to construct for me is entitled ‘one is more not four’. it arrived today and the finished piece looks extremely beautiful. have a look below to see images showing the design process from initial sketch to finished piece
i am currently engaged in ongoing research about one stringed instruments and will document this in an article or essay of some kind
now i intend to learn how to effectively use its built in midi capabilities so that it can be used in improvisations and live performances. i would also like to display it in galleries. if you are involved in a gallery and are interested in showing it please get in touch
click on the image for more information
below is a slideshow i made of a day i spent at hippo screenprinters out in essex. i intend to produce a series of paintings of different audio adapters as an attempt to display the relatively new medium of sonic art using traditional artistic methods – like with oil paints and screenprinting. i been trying to sort out a reliable method of getting the pictures i took of my massive audio adapter collection onto large sheets of mdf. among other things, i tried projecting the images and hand painting them but it proved too difficult and made me realise that i wasn’t very good at painting. so by my usual methods of trial and error, asking loads of questions and waiting to see what happens i have arrived at the conclusion that screenprinting is the way to go. now i just need to go and get it framed and put a copper plaque on it before i send it to galleries as a proof of concept idea. or try and sell it
click on the image for a description
many thanks to lynne at hippo screenprinters for all her expertise and advice
the one string guitar project that i have commissioned from bailey guitars up in ayr is coming along fine and i am fizzing with excitement at its potential, both as an instrument and as an artistic piece for gallery display. have a look at some of the latest photos of its construction here.
also, the whirlygig cinema evening at the horse hospital the other friday went down very well and hippo birdwings got some pretty good laughs. have a read of some of the reviews here and here.
that hippo birdwings short film i made last year has been chosen to be shown as part of a short film night by whirlygig cinema at the horse hospital this friday 11th march. further details are here. come down and say hi if you are around. just by russell square tube
i have just finished a piece of music with accompanying film using sounds sourced from the inflight entertainment system from sri lankan airlines flight UL509 from colombo to london on 23.1.11
the sounds were mixed from two headphone sources via a mini mixer and recorded onto minidisc. they were then later further edited and developed using ableton live and matched up with images captured using a portable flip video camera
you can watch the film on the video page or go straight to the vimeo page
ayr based bailey guitars, who i have commissioned to create my next piece – a one string bass guitar, have started a blog on their website about the project. you can read about its ongoing creation here
i have just returned from another recording trip to sri lanka. a selection of raw field recordings can be listened to via my soundcloud page. other video and audio recordings are in the process of being edited to produce further work
prime bolus music – the large improvised piece i periodically performed live last year (and hope to continue to perform and develop this year) has been given really favourable reviews in the organ online music magazine and also in the sound projector. the piece and be downloaded for free on the music page or you can buy the ltd edition cdr from eaten by squirrels
i have now started a new artwork project which will take the form of a one string electric bass guitar. after thinking about the idea since the summer and researching some of the history of these minimal instruments i have commissioned bailey guitars from ayr in scotland to craft this latest artwork and musical instrument combination. i visited their premises the other day for the initial planning and design of the piece. i might make some kind of accompanying short film too when it is finished