interactive
live art event
at the Britisih Library, Feb 2005
commissioned by the British Library as part of a Pearson
Creative Research Fellowship
Eight actors aged 12 to 70 were transformed
into 'human gramophones' who performed pieces inspired
by recordings of 'nonsense' in the English language from
the Drama & Literature collection of the Sound Archive.
The
source material ranged from historical recordings of experimental
literature read by their authors (James Joyce, Gertrude
Stein, Edith Sitwell, etc) or interpreted by acclaimed
voice actors (Peter Pears, David Davis, etc) to recordings of 'sound poetry'
from the 70s and recordings by British comedians (Spike
Milligan, etc).
The limitations and artefacts of sound recording technologies
were also as much a part of the work as the words themselves:
the 'human gramophones' hissed, skipped, slowed down or
got caught in a groove.
It
was up to the audience to keep winding up the 'human gramophones'
and to place their fingers on the records to play them.
A sonic 'garden' was thus created in the centre of the British
Library, with different voices coming from
all directions intoning, muttering, singing, proclaiming… English nonsense.
[click here for press]