Art Accelerating Art

Is this the shape of things to come?

We had the first rehearsal yesterday for this performance to be held at the Saatchi Gallery 13-16 October.

The idea is to investigate how audience appreciation of The Shape of Things to Come exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery is affected when music and poetry are performed in response to sculpture.

Elinros Henriksdottir asked me to select and perform some poetry in response to certain works and invited A Band of Buriers to do the same in music.

Meeting A Band of Buriers

I met John Angel Rodriguez, curator, and the deep-voiced James Honey and string-master Jamie Romain of A Band of Buriers.

The band’s “alternative folk” music is absolutely mesmerising – it was gorgeous to hear it filling the large spaces of the gallery.

Poems by William Blake… et moi!

The poems to be performed are the “Introduction” and “Earth’s Answer” from William Blake’s Songs of Experience, and my own Smooth Red Woman.

The latter is really just a textual spec for a digital poem I intend to make, about thoughts triggered by a beautiful red marble sculpture I saw in Italy, so I didn’t think of it as a final version, but it does seem amazingly relevant in the context of the particular sculptures we’ll be using it to comment on. It particularly raises questions around how women’s responses to art may differ from men’s.

Three wonderful actors to perform

Unfortunately, a long-standing personal commitment prevents me from being there for two of the four days of the performances, so I will not perform, but instead I have arranged for three wonderful performers to do it instead: Rosalie Jorda, Gisele Edwards and Gabby Meadows.

I am still involved as Project Assistant and will be going to the rehearsals and to the first and possibly the second performance.

All three poems sound amazing in the voices of the three female performers. It’s heartening to feel that themes so personal to me can be shared by and communicated through other women.

Ekphrastic experience to share

If this idea of using some art forms to enhance your experience of another art form appeals to you, or you know someone who might be intrigued by it, everyone in the Art Accelerating Art team would appreciate it if you would Like this post and spread the word via social media!