Future Everything is an annual city-wide festival which looks at the big questions facing society through the lens of digital culture and art. It returns in March 2016, and this year’s theme is ‘Less and More: Rethinking Resources’. The festival has a packed programme of talks and workshops from eminent people from the fields of design, urbanism, and academia. They will be discussing how people can rethink what they use in a changing economy and climate. There will also be a programme of sculpture, live music, and performance. You’ll find work from across the spectrum, including electronic music and data art. Many of these arty events are open to everyone. Three of the best are outlined below…
AV-extravaganza with Gazelle Twin: Kingdom Come at Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery will be presenting the premiere of this audio-visual performance for two vocalists. Created by British artist Gazelle Twin (Elizabeth Bernholz – whose work is pictured), working with Chris Turner and Tash Tung, ‘Kingdom Come’ incorporates film, electronics, and a soundtrack of samples and vocal manipulation. Inspired by the novel of the same name by J.G. Ballard, the piece is a look at feralness and displacement in six movements. Performed on treadmills, the 40-minute-long work places huge physical demands on the singers, with dramatic results.
Thu 31 Mar, Manchester Art Gallery Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3JL, 7.30pm – 8.30pm, Tickets TBA, futureeverything.org
Audio artwork: The Corridor at Manchester Central Library
‘The Corridor’ is a new audio artwork by Andrew Hodson which be presented at Central Library. The works takes its name from the area around Oxford Road which was the inspiration for the piece. It was here that Hodson worked with local people to create field recordings. These found audios were used to create a series of ‘sound poems’ relating to different areas. Visitors to the library can listen to these using their mobile phones.
Thu 31 Mar, Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester, M2 5PD, 9.00am – 5.00pm, FREE, futureeverything.org
Mixed-media immersive sculpture: Smoke Signals at the Burgess Foundation
The International Anthony Burgess Foundation will be hosting this new mixed-media sculpture. The work takes data from several online networks and represents it as smoke and sound. Artists Ed Carter and David Cranmer were inspired by the idea that the modern digital communications have replaced the smoke signals of old. Twelve smoke ring cannons respond to the movements of data, representing online interactions. The aim is to make sense of the noise in a world overloaded by data.
Thu 31 Mar – Sat 2 Apr, IABF, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester, M1 5BY, 10am – 6pm, FREE, futureeverything.org
- Words:
- A. James Simpkin
- Published on:
- Tue 29 Mar 2016
