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'PATAPHYSICS

Sonic Arts Network is proud to present the latest instalment in the critically acclaimed SAN CD series.  The publication has been curated by Professor Andrew Hugill, Director of the Centre for Creative Technologies and the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre at De MontfordtUniversity, UK.  He is also a leading authority on ‘Pataphysics and a member of the Collège de 'Pataphysique, where he was awarded the Emphyteosis and the rank of Petit Fils d'Ubu.

The most serious of all the Sciences and the end of all ends, 'Pataphysics is the Science of Imaginary Solutions. Although unknowingly practised by everybody at all times, it took the pistol toting, expert fencer, literary madman, maniac midget and designer of the time machine, Alfred Jarry, to recognise it and give it a name.  In this CD, travel overland by sea in your skiff, following Dr Faustroll by the light of a green candle, along the gidouille that is the history of Pataphysics in sound.

The CD includes two songs from the College of ‘Pataphysics archives, never before heard outside of the college; an unreleased Nigey Lennon track; An exclusive unreleased song by Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine); a remastered version of Gavin Bryars’ Ponukelian Melody and a piece which predates John Cage’s 4’33” by some 60 years. The perfect gift for someone you love this Christmas!

Happy Christmas from Sonic Arts Network

Thank you to all our members who have collaborated with us and supported our work over the last year.  We hope to see and hear you at gigs, and events in the next year, which promises to be an exciting series of projects throughout the UK and on the web.  The Sonic Arts Network team wishes you all a fantastic Christmas break and a great New Year.  

 



5 November – 15 January
Playing John Cage
(exhibition)
Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol

Featuring new commissions and installations by Alvin Curran, Ryoji Ikeda, Rolf Julius, Tagaki Masakatsu, Kaffe Matthews, Carsten Nicolai, Akio Suzuki and Michael Prime. It also presents works by Gavin Bryars, Michael Parsons, Mieko Shiomi and Christian Wolff as well as by Cage himself. Audible mushrooms, sonic furniture and a new take on Cage’s fascination with Kyoto’s most famous Zen garden. This exhibition explores the legacy of John Cage’s ideas on contemporary music, art and sound.
http://www.arnolfini.org.uk

18 November - 18 December
Her Noise
(festival)
South London Gallery, SE5

Her Noise is a season of installations, events, performances and screenings by a wide network of artists whose practice involves the use of sound as a medium. Featuring work by Christina Kubisch, Kaffe Matthews, Kim Gordon with Jutta Koether, Emma Hedditch and Hayley Newman.
http://www.hernoise.com

9 - 19 December
Pool Of Sound
(Installation)
08 Place, Whitechapel, Liverpool

A soundscape of Liverpool, created by young people working with sonic artist Alex Decoupigny, acoustic ecologist Phil Morton & performance poet Trevor Gerard.
http://www.frakture.org

14 December
Goldsmiths College Electronic Music Studios
Christmas Concert
(concert)
Great Hall, Goldsmiths College, London

Programme including John Lely; Violeta Llano; Rob Ainsley; Tim Bowman; Chris Halliwell; John Lely; Sarah Owen; Thanos Chrysakis; Mariano Nunez-West; Ayako Tabo.
http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk

19 December
The Listening Room, Sixth Annual Xmas Soundwalk
(soundwalk)
Liverpool

Wrap up warm - it’s the Listening Room’s annual soundwalk through the acoustic ecologies of fridges, squares, subways, caverns, creaking leather, streets and parks. Meet in the front courtyard of the Bluecoat Arts Centre School Lane Liverpool.
www.frakture.freeserve.co.uk/lr

22 December
HIT presents HITMAS
(club/film/live performance)
Filthy MacNasty’s, Angel, London

HIT present HITMAS - a Christmas arts and music event. Featuring the theremin and puppet play of Ninki-V (as seen at Expo 966, Scarborough); Crooner classics from Mickey Fordola; Ergo Phizmiz will provide a new soundtrack to a much loved Christmas Film exclusively for HIT; Installation artist Claudia Borgnia will create a site-specific installation for the event using her main medium – plastic bags; Also Boz Boorer (Morrissey/Polecats) will do an exclusive DJ set; Plus performance art, poetry and the HIT Mix Tape Secret Santa (bring a Mix tape/CD and get one back).  In good Christmas spirit – it’s all FREE.
www.pin-upsmusic.com/hit

12 January
SPRAWL: 10th Anniversary
(club/live performance)
Yacht Club, Temple Pier, Victoria Embankment
London Sprawl is 10 years old. To celebrate, they have invited over two US artists, Taylor Deupree  and Richard Chartier. Joined by Iris Garrelfs and Si-cut.db.
http://www.dfuse.com/sprawl

14 January
Sonic Art Meeting Group
(meeting)
Leeds University

Present your own music, participate in a free-form improv session, or listen and discuss ideas. Everyone welcome, regardless of background or level of experience.
http://www.sonicartgroup.org

25 January
SPRAWL meets ELECTRONIC LOUNGE
(club)
The ICA, The Mall, London SW1

Celebrating 10 years of the sonic art club
Sprawl, curators Iris Garrelfs and Si-cut.db
revisit one of it's big inspirations, The
Electronic Lounge-resident monthly club at the
ICA for 5 years, alongside the Lounge's founder Scanner and Lounge resident Tony Morley from the Leaf label.
www.sprawl.org.uk


     




Postgraduate Assistantships for overseas students at University of Manchester

Music at the University of Manchester is offering two full Graduate Teaching Assistantships for overseas (non-EU) students to pursue PhD study in Musicology, Composition and Electroacoustic Composition.

The deadline for applications is 1 January 2006. These scholarships, tenable for three years subject to satisfactory progress, pay an annual stipend of £12,000 and cover overseas tuition fees. Scholarship holders will have an obligation to teach an average of four hours per week (though in most cases this will not be in their first year here, so it will work out at six hours a week in the second and third years).

Interested candidates should contact Professor Philip Grange (Philip.grange@manchester.ac.uk) for further information on how to apply. Candidates will be expected also to apply to ORS scholarships, information on ORS can be obtained from www.manchester.ac.uk/ors.

Additional information:

http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/subjectareas/music/research/
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/subjectareas/music/research/mantis/
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/subjectareas/music/research/mantis/courses/

PhD, MusM and MPhil study in electroacoustic composition is supervised by David Berezan (acousmatic composition, sound diffusion, live and interactive, sound and image) and Eric Lyon (audio design, computer music, MaxMSP, live and interactive, software design).

Composer / Sound artist wanted for dance performance (London)

Composer needed for dance piece 'Tetherings' by Central St Martins MA student for performance at Cochrane Theatre, London on 13th January.

Tetherings will be a dance piece in four stages of about five minutes each. Two dancers will be attached to each other by varying lengths of hair. It will be looking at the possibilites for movement under physical restriction focusing on ideas of pairs, couples and dependence.

Movement will be a combination of independent work and duetting; dynamic almost frantic activity combined with growing neurotic repetition; moments of great frenzy coupled with a dreamlike slowness.

Music
Looking for musical phrases that will be repeated throughout with the tempo changing form stage to stage, getting gradually slower. Perhaps two instruments/sounds would dominate the piece and these would start to be discordant, in small instances in Stage 1 with these instances lengthening and multiplying throughout the next 3 Stages until eventually it is jagged, robotic, cacophonic, almost industrial.

Stage 1
Plaits will 3m long, movement will be very free, dancers trying to work independently of each other, almost oblivious to their contraints. Ocasionally they take note of each other and go into brief duets but one is eventually more willful and breaks away. This stage will contain the most dynamic movement.

Stage 2
Plaits will be 1.50m long. Movement is obviously not as free due to restriction nor as independent with about 50% of stage now spent in a kind of duet. Attempts to continue to move independenly are almost violent with dancers dragging each other and forcing their movement with the force of their heads.

Stage 3
Plaits will be 70cm long. Movement is very restricted and there is no opportunity to work independently. This stage is a duet with the dancers trying to work with each other.

Stage 4
Plaits will be 30cm long. Movement is awkward and limited. Dancers are more or less rooted to the spot trying to work with arms and legs. Their movement is a mirror of each others, an attempt to duet that eventually leads to a collapse.

If interested please contact Katharine Fry on 07932 730 905 or email katharine_kat@hotmail.com


CreatAbility Project

New opportunities for:
Lead Musician
Lead Dance/Performance Artist
Local Artists

Exciting opportunities for a collaborative, multi-art form project for the under fives in West Sussex.

Building on the CreatAbility pilot project (spring 2005), we are recruiting a team of three lead artists and three locally based artists to develop some new work for a range of nursery settings in West Sussex. As well as an eight week programme of workshops in nursery settings, the project offers great opportunities for collaborative cross-art form working and will lead to the publication of a new book about creative learning for under-fives.

Working with a lead visual artist from the pilot project, we want to recruit a highly experienced lead musician and lead dance/performance artist to complete the team. Each position offers a fee of £9,600.

We are also looking for three assistants to the project who must all be locally based – i.e. with permanent home or work address in West Sussex. Again, we are looking for one visual artist, one musician and one dance/performance artist. Fees for these positions are £3,750.

The project will take place in the summer term 2006 with a research period in March. Interviews will be held in February.

For further information, please contact Clare Halstead, Arts in Education Co-ordinator, West Sussex County Council, Arts Office, County Hall, Chichester, PO19 1RF. Tel: 01243 756897 email: clare.Halstead@westsussex.gov.uk

For a weblink to information about the CreatAbility Pilot project please see: http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/content/curriculum/art-design/schools-work/creatability.en



Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award

The University of Illinois School of Music presents
The 2006 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award

Eligibility: Any composer, regardless of age or nationality.

Award: Cash award of $1000 and a performance by the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble in the fall of 2006 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Additional awards of $500 and $250 plus performances may be given at the discretion of the judges.

Medium: Full scores of any style or aesthetic direction for one to ten performers (including vocalists) may be submitted. Works for tape, electronics and/or mixed media with or without instruments/voices are eligible.

Duration: 20 minutes maximum

Limit: One entry per composer

Entry fee: A non-refundable entry fee of fifteen U.S. dollars ($15.00) in the form of a cheque must be included with each submission. All cheques must be payable to the University of Illinois, and must either be an international money order or drawn on a U.S. bank.

Anonymous Submission: The composer's name must not appear on the score itself or on any item. (tape, CD, etc.) submitted as supplement to the application. A sealed envelope must accompany the score and contain the composer's name, address, telephone number/e-mail (if applicable) and a brief biographical sketch. If a recording of the work is available, it should accompany the score and be identified only by the title of the composition.

Return of Materials: Scores will not be returned unless a self-addressed, stamped envelope of the proper size is enclosed.

A panel of judges consisting of University of Illinois music composition faculty members will select the winning composition. The winning composer is expected to attend the award concert/reception and will be responsible for their transportation costs (the competition will provide a stipend for lodging). The winning composer will assume full responsibility for providing adequate performance materials upon request.

For more details visit:
http://www-camil.music.uiuc.edu:16080/comptheory/Awards/Martirano.html


SOUND PRACTICE 2006

Organised by UK & Ireland Soundscape Community and the Music Department,
Goldsmiths College

Dates: 11th & 12th February 2006

Location: Goldsmiths College, University of London

Deadline for proposals: 10th January 2006

Aim:
The UK & Ireland Soundscape Community (a regional branch of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology) was launched in 2001 with a major international conference at Dartington Hall (Sound Practice: the 1st UKISC conference on sound, culture and environments). The objectives of the conference were: to nurture our understanding and awareness of the soundscape; to report on past, current and future soundscapes; to advance the emerging interdiscipline of soundscape studies. Since then the scene has developed dramatically, and with wide ranging new initiatives and directives, yet with arguably limited scope, soundscape issues are now more firmly on the map than ever.

SOUND PRACTICE 2006 provides an opportunity to take stock and reflect on many of the activities that have shaped the scene over the past 5 years. It will also provide a forum in which to discuss the future of soundscape studies and pool new approaches and practices.

Invitation to submit proposals: Proposals pertinent to the above topics are welcomed from a variety of presentation formats: academic papers, workshops, posters, sound walks, electroacoustic and acoustic compositions, multi-media presentations, live-art performances, panel discussions, installations, exhibitions, soundscape study reports, demonstrations of emerging technologies.

Submission Instructions:
All submissions must include -

Name:
Institutional Affiliation (if applicable):
Postal Address:
Email:
Web Page (if applicable):
Presentation Format:
Title of Presentation:
Duration:
Programme Notes or Abstract (200 words max):
Short Biography (200 words max):
Technical Requirements:

Please include DAT, DA98, CD, video, score and other relevant forms of documentation of proposed presentation. All materials received will be put into the UKISC archive. All participants are expected to attend the conference. Submission of work by students is particularly encouraged. Entrance to all events will be free.

Any enquires please contact: j.drever@gold.ac.uk

Deadline for submissions of proposals: 9th January 2006 (post marked)

Send Proposals and Submissions to:
SOUND PRACTICE 2006
c/o Dr John Levack Drever
Music Department
Goldsmiths College
New Cross, London
SE14 6NW
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The UK and Ireland Soundscape Community (UKISC) aims to:

Establish itself as a network of individuals and local groups including the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland who are concerned with the sonic environment (soundscape).

Encourage the formation of smaller, regionally based and community managed soundscape groups through specific public and community projects.

Establish and promote publicly recognised Sites of Sonic Interest or Soundmarks over the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Promote research into acoustics within the arts, natural and social sciences, in particular the field of acoustic ecology.

Develop strategies and promote policies towards the creation of better soundscapes in architectural design and urban planning.

Help establish and/or support regional soundscape archives within England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales.

Promote art forms that tackle the above issues.

The UK and Ireland Soundscape Community is an affiliate organisation of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE) so as to present the concerns and interests of its members at an international level and to support the WFAE in its various capacities.

Artsadmin Bursaries 2006

Application guidelines are now available for:

Artsadmin Bursaries 2006: for early & mid-career artists

The scheme offers bursaries to UK-based artists, at all stages of their career, working in contemporary performance practice and in Video/Media/Sound work with a strong performative element.

The scheme aims to support good ideas, and is very much oriented towards research and process-based work. Bursaries can be used to experiment with new ways of working and to practically research or take an idea further without the pressure to realise a final outcome or product.

It does not support the final stages of working towards production, the touring or exhibiting of work, or the finishing of work which has already gone through an extensive research and development phase.


Who Can Apply

* Artists working in contemporary performance practice and artists working in Video/Media/Sound work with a strong performative element
* Artists based in the UK.
* Artists working as individuals or in collaborations or groups.


Guidelines:
There is no application form. Full details of the scheme and guidelines on how to apply are downloadable from http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/artistsadvisor/bursaryscheme.html

Artsadmin can also email guidelines as a Microsoft Word or Acrobat PDF document if you cannot download them from the website.

If you would like a hard copy sent by post, please send a stamped A4 SAE to the address given below.

Guidelines can also be made available in various formats, including audio-tape, large print, Braille, electronic formats. If you would like to request the guidelines in one of these formats, please contact Artsadmin.

Deadline : to arrive by Tuesday 1st March 2006 6pm by post

Contact details :

Nikki Tomlinson or Jo Hammett
Artsadmin
Toynbee Studios
28 Commercial Street
London E1 6AB
www.artsadmin.co.uk

Telephone: 020 7247 5102
Fax: 020 7247 5103
Textphone: 020 7247 5182

Emails:nikki@artsadmin.co.uk; jhammett@artsadmin.co.uk


CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

"Truth & Lies" ARTCITY 2006 (Calgary)
Deadline: January 20, 2006; Source: Artcity

Artcity is a celebration of contemporary visual art, architecture & design, held every September in Calgary, Canada. Artcity opens possibilities for conversations, debates and realisations about how and what artists, architects and designers do and how they see and shape the world around us.

Artcity programming is responsive to current issues and trends in the Calgary community and beyond. Each year we develop new themes and programming that will challenge and engage viewers. Individuals are encouraged to forward submissions for visual art, lectures and performative works.

2006 FESTIVAL THEME: Truth & Lies

All art is considered to be a replica of reality - and is therefore a lie.

Next year's Artcity theme TRUTH & LIES will provide viewers and participants with a forum for critical discourse surrounding ideas of replication, illusion and fiction. Local, national and international visual/media artists, architects and designers are invited to create thought provoking work that examines and deconstructs what it is to be art producers in a mass media culture.

The Artcity Board of Directors invites submissions for site-specific works, which address Artcity's 2006 theme: Truth & Lies for various confirmed venues as well as additional sites as proposed (see the website for details). Submissions could include site-specific projects, performative works situated within impromptu gallery settings (vacant retail space or shop windows). In addition to the proposal information requested below, applicants should identify possible/preferred venues/sites.

All media will be considered, including time-based work such as video/film, audio and performance. Emerging artists are encouraged to submit.

Exhibiting artists will be paid at minimum CARFAC rates for a regional, non-touring, group exhibition.

Please include the following in your submission:
-curriculum vitae
-artist's statement
-description of proposed work
-proposed site/venue requirements
-10-20 slides and/or other relevant support material
-special technical/installation requirements
-a self-addressed stamped envelope
-project budget (including anticipated amount of funds required from Artcity's Production Assistance Fund)

DEADLINE January 20, 2021 (postmarked)
SUBMIT ENTRIES TO
Artcity Visual Arts 2006
#200, 137 - 8th Avenue SW
Calgary AB T2P 1B4
Canada

QUESTIONS?
visualart@art-city.ca
Please visit www.art-city.ca for more information about Artcity.


RESIDENCY: CALL FOR ENTRIES

Threshold is hosting a 3-week residency for sound artists and media artists to work collaboratively with a group of Architectural Association graduates to create a sound_space landscape. Participants will work on-site to transform E:vent’s basement space into an immersive audio/visual environment.

The group will be encouraged to evolve a process of working together to explore new techniques and to trace processes and experiments. Participants will also be asked to undertake an educational workshop with kids from a local school. Throughout the residency participants will document their activities online in the residency blog.

Deadline for submission of application forms: January 15 2006

Residency period: April 7-30 2006


International Call for submissions

Curators: New Adventures in Sound Art & AGM
SOUNDplay festival & AGM06 (October 2006)

Deadline: Received by December 16, 2020 at 5pm EST.

New Adventures in Sound Art (http://www.soundplay.ca) and AGM (http:// www.annualgeneralmeeting.net is currently accepting submissions for inclusion in both the 2006 SOUNDplay festival and AGM 06 that will feature video/sound art works that place equal artistic importance on image and sound and emphasizes non-narrative elements
and abstraction. Both emerging and established artists will be featured in the festivals. We encourage artists to submit works that are less than 20 minutes in length.

SOUNDplay, produced by New Adventures in Sound Art, is a meeting point for experimentation in new media and sound art, encouraging new fusions of image, sound & text. New Adventures in Sound Art is a non-profit organization that produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental
sound art. Included in its Toronto productions are: Dmimieep Wireless, Sound Travels, Sign Waves and SOUNDplay.

AGM, based in Copenhagen, builds annual artistic collaborations and develops new connections among participating artists and audiences around Europe and other parts of the world. AGM 06 will feature Canadian new media works and screenings among a selection of
international works for the 2006 event in Berlin and Copenhagen.

Please submit the following for consideration:

- VHS or DVD copy of the work
- a description or program note of the work
- biographies of the principle creators of the work.

Note: we will request permission from the artist before any works are screened and at that time will request a screening master of the work. Unless otherwise requested, NAISA would like to retain copies sent for consideration in future festivals.

Please send submissions to:

New Adventures in Sound Art
401 Richmond Street West #358
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M5V 3A8
phone: (416) 910-7231
e-mail: naisa@soundtravels.ca

CALL FOR WORK

SONIC ARTS NETWORK PRESENTS EXPO
THE ANNUAL SAN EXPOSITION
23-26 JUNE 2006


In conjunction with University of Manchester and Cornerhouse

Expo is an opportunity to experience the work of the best UK sonic art practitioners, to meet, listen and respond. After the success of last year’s highly eclectic event in Scarborough the focus now shifts to Manchester. Preparation is underway for another packed weekend of sonic art and electronic music from UK artists and a choice selection of international guests. This weekend of performance, exhibition and presentation will take place across a variety of public venues in Manchester including concert halls, gallery spaces, bars, nightclubs and an historic architectural space. The weekend aims to highlight the broadest possible range of approaches and thinking that surround the sonic arts. We welcome submissions of all kinds.

There is no charge for the submission or acceptance of work, and indeed, entry to the festival will continue to be free to all members of the public. We do ask that selected artists attend the event. This call is open to all UK based practitioners and all international members of Sonic Arts Network.

Call for Works, Papers and Commission Proposals

Submissions

Submissions are sought in all forms of sonic art including real-time interactive works, improvisation with technology, experimental electronica, instrumental/electroacoustic mixes, acousmatic music, sound installations, environmental sound work, performances, internet-based creative work, sound and image works and cross-arts work. We welcome submissions of all kinds of work incorporating sound.

Submitted works must have been created after January 2005.

Some resources are limited and, for example, performers must be supplied by submitting artists.

Available equipment for this year’s festival will include: a multi-channel sound diffusion system catering for projection of stereo and multi-channel works (hard disk) and smaller, adaptable stereo systems suitable for installation work, Macintosh G5 (dual processing) and iMac G4 computers (OSX) with Digi 002 and MOTU 828 Firewire (mark two) audio interfaces. Video projection facilities are also available.

Central to this year’s programme will be a day of sound art at The Manchester Victoria Baths on Sunday 25 June. The faded grandeur of this Edwardian ‘water place’ lead to the building winning BBC 2’s 2003 Restoration series and is one of the few surviving municipal buildings of its type in the UK. We are seeking submissions of both performance and installation work that will complement this remarkable historical space and will be suited to its reverberant acoustic. Those interested in submitting should also visit www.victoriabaths.org.uk (explore the Victoria Baths Community Archive through the ‘links’ sections of their site) to see more photos and get information about the building, its history and the people who have used it over the years. Sonic Arts Network will make a limited amount of assistance funding available for selected works where deemed necessary for staging. Please include a budget with your submission.

Research Papers Submissions

Image – Action – Sound
The final day of Expo will be given over to papers and research presentations and we encourage submissions orbiting the following ideas:

_the interpretation of text and image (graphic scores for example) in electronic music and sound art
_performer interfaces and their aesthetic and technical ramifications
_the relationships between composition and improvisation in current electronic music performance trends
_the role of the composer in interactive and ‘non-intentional’ work (for example various forms of soundscape and documentary based work)
_cross media relationships in live AV, sonic improvisation alongside fixed media such as film

The guest speaker on this day of research presentations will be Joseph Byrd. Byrd studied with both Morton Feldman and John Cage and became involved in New York Fluxus in the 1960s. His graphic scores have been published by La Monte Young in his ‘Anthology’ and Cage in his ‘Notations’. In the late 60s he was a founder member of the experimental rock group The United States of America and he is a scholar of music in American cultural history. Joseph Byrd is collaborating with the British sound art group Dreams of Tall Buildings and the Norwegian noise improvisation group Spunk on a new Sonic Arts Network commission to be premiered at Expo.

Submitted presentations may take the form of written papers or discussions of creative, research or practical work (including work in progress). Presenters should plan for 20 minutes presentation time and a further 10 minutes discussion time will be allowed.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions of papers and works should include:

_ Title of work/paper
_ Name of author(s)
_ Contact details (name, address, telephone/fax, email, URL)
_ Brief bio (150 words max.)
_Programme notes, if applicable (max 150 words)
_ Description of artistic concept (250 words max.)/Abstract summary of paper (500 words max.)
_ For artistic submissions, the role of technology in realisation of work (100 words max.)
_ Technical resources required for presentation (specifying those that can be supplied by the artist in the case of artistic submissions)
_ For artistic submissions an audio/video example of work (CD or link to www site)

*Please note, we require the written information to be emailed to Richard Whitelaw at richard@sonicartsnetwork.org and clearly labelled hardcopy of examples of work to be sent to:

Expo 966
Sonic Arts Network
The Jerwood Space
171 Union St
London
SE1 OLN
United Kingdom

Deadline for proposals: 16 January 2021

Commission Proposals

In addition to our call for existing works, we are once again pleased to offer a festival commission for the creation of new work. This piece will be a sound installation to be premiered at Cornerhouse, Greater Manchester’s international centre for contemporary art and film (www.cornerhouse.org). This new work will run from 23 June – 30 July 2020 and will be on view in Gallery 1 during regular gallery hours. Sonic Arts Network and Cornerhouse will work in partnership to select from submitted commission proposals and to assist in the presentation of the new piece. Proposals for work are invited from British artists, artists living and working in the UK or international members of Sonic Arts Network. A total budget of £4000 will be made available for the delivery of the selected work. This will breakdown as £1000 artist fee and up to £3000 production costs. Production costs should also include any special equipment required for the installation. Those considering applying for this commission should see the plan of Gallery 1 at Cornerhouse which available at the Sonic Arts Network website.

Commission proposals should include:

_ Title of work
_ Your name
_ Your contact details (name, address, telephone/fax, email, URL)
_ A brief biography (150 words max.)
_ Audio/video example of your previous work (or link to www site)
_ A Description of the artistic concept to be commissioned (500 words max.)
_ The technical resources required for the presentation (specifying those which will be supplied by the artist)
_ A simple budget specifying your fee, the production, materials and presentation costs
_ The time-scale strategy for the creation and completion of the work

*Please note, we require the written information to be emailed to richard@sonicartsnetwork.org and clearly labelled hardcopy examples of work to be sent to:

Expo Commissions
Sonic Arts Network
The Jerwood Space
171 Union St
London
SE1 OLN
United Kingdom

Commission proposals should be clearly labelled and reach the Sonic Arts Network office by 16 January 2021


Call for your Sonic Art as Ringtones

What is it?
Free Original MP3 and Polyphonic Ringtones. Collaborative Mobile Content. Open Mobile Platform. Creative Sonic Arts on your Mobile.

http://www.c21tones.com is a new creative mobile audio site designed to create a wealth of new, exciting and creative ringtone content and promote the work of musicians and sonic artists. C21tones is part of the successful international art project run by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council bringing art from 21 Asian nations to the North West of England.

http://www.c21tones.com lets you submit original compositions and download any tone to your mobile for free. It is a participatory, user generated, arts project. A series of workshops is currently being developed to allow participants in the Blackburn with Darwen region to create their own mobile content.

Call For Submissions
We are currently accepting submissions from musicians, sonic artists, and anyone, anywhere wishing to experiment with mobile audio. Check out the site to hear and download other original content and visit the ‘Submit a Tone’ section to send us yours.

How It Works
We can accept any MIDI or MP3 file under 150K. Once it is uploaded to the site, our software optimises the file for over 400 phones and sends it by SMS direct to your phone. It’s really simple.

Featured Work
The site is growing in popularity, and if you submit your work, it will be heard, and possibly used as a great ringtone by thousands of participants.

Submission Guidelines
Submit your work via the site at http://www.c21tones.com, if we feature your work, we will let you know by email when it is included.

 



 


Passades-Volume 2
Roger Doyle

www.cmc.ie

According to the Greeks, the god of time – Khronos – circled the entire universe with his serpentine body and ruled everything before the Olympians came about. As a father, Khronos had a bad habit; he was eating his children, until his wife had enough of it and decided to give him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of her newborn baby. When this baby – Zeus – grew up, he rebelled against his dad and imprisoned him. This myth speaks of our eternal fascination with time. On the one hand, the devouring god stands for time gorging itself insatiably on years that are past and symbolises the destructive ravages of time. Simultaneously, the imprisonment of Khronos speaks of the desire to freeze time so that its courses might not be unlimited.

The idea of freezing time is explored aurally in Passades-Volume 2 by Roger Doyle. Practically, Doyle experiments with the creative possibilities of software that captures sounds like a freeze-frame in video. The freeze-frame, which creates the impression that no visual movement takes place, is an optical representation of the idea of stopping time. However, unlike images in film/video to which movement is added, sound is itself movement. It therefore seems paradoxical to think of sound in a ‘frozen’ state, because making sonic movement stop would terminate sound altogether. This paradox is the starting point of Passades and what makes it an extraordinary, ambitious, and exciting project.

The work is highly focused. The title Passades presents a visual metaphor for Doyle’s musical undertaking; it is an equestrian term that indicates the technique in which a horse is made to course repeatedly over the same spot performing the movements of locomotion, yet not advancing spatially. This is similar to the way in which the composer moves the sonic material back-and-forth slowly – almost imperceptibly. In a sense, the project suggests that stillness and movement needn’t be thought of as opposites. Perhaps immobility and movement are not different in kind, but in degree – stillness is the ‘degree zero’, the freezing point of movement.

The Opening has a sense of expansion, which permeates the entire CD. This sonic expansion is also a perceptual one. From Frozen in Stereoscope onwards one gets the sense of standing still, observing sound through a time-magnifying lens that zooms into fragments of sonic events and their duration. The Idea and its Shadow presents the only exception; it is an engaging piece but seems not to belong here conceptually. Nevertheless, Doyle’s exciting experiment makes audible what is otherwise imperceptible to the human ear because of its microscopic duration. Low frequencies are overlaid with voices and other sounds, and interrupted by silences and ruptures of noise. In some pieces, there are abstract hints of melody and strikingly moving harmonic shifts. Sometimes we are immersed in what sounds like violins, which accumulate and are punctuated with faint voices. Human presence (through speech, fragmentary singing, inhalations and other vocal gestures) adds another layer of complexity, emotional and conceptual depth to this time/movement-defying project. In Doyle’s own words, ‘there is an ancient voice in this music which seems to travel through the present into the future, then back again into the past’. Is this ancient voice the one that gave birth to the story of Zeus’ entrapment of time?

Passades-Volume 2 presents the exciting musical discoveries of a passionate, innovative musical explorer who possesses the technical skills of a scientist and the compositional awareness and sensibility of an artist.

Reviewed by Mikhail Karikis

Mikhail Karikis is a sound-artist and a musician. A composition by him was recently released by Bjørk on her 'Army of Me' album. His first full length album will be released in 2006. Mikhail is lecturing on sound art at Middlesex University, UCL and Central Saint Martins.