Wölflinge
Active Member
ArtTrail Festival 2010: Multiple Endings
November 19th - December 5th 2010
Cork City, Ireland
ArtTrail, an annual festival of contemporary artistic practice, facilitates and supports site-specific and site-responsive projects in the Cork City area. It offers the context and support for artists of all disciplines to develop and present work outside their normal studio practice; and brings the audience into direct contact with the work, the artists and the making process. The festival aims to be aware of and responsive to its location, without being solely defined by it.
Following from 2009's theme of "Rediscovering Locality", in 2010 ArtTrail is working with a theme of "Multiple Endings".
Earlier this summer Arttrail approached Black Sun to curate the grand finale of their 2010 festival. I'm thrilled to announce that this (Monday) December 6th, we'll be hosting Borbetomagus for their debut Irish performance. Also on the line up is Dutch saxophonist Thomas Ankersmit and Edinburgh's finest, Usurper.
There will be an art exhibition of work by Malcy Duff (Ursurper) and workshops in both comic book drawing/storytelling techniques (led by Malcy Duff) and one in dismantling instruments and improvisation (led by Malcy Duff and Ali Robertson)
Borbetomagus
A 30-year history has proven Borbetomagus to be a groundbreaking, seminal, and visionary group. The trio crafted a huge mass of incendiary sound ("noise") that went far beyond anything previously heard. They formed in New York in the late 1970’s at the time that radical punk rock, no-wave, free jazz, and downtown "new music" were all changing the way people heard sound. But Borbetomagus stood on its own, chiseling out an unlikely noise that separated it from what was being heard in those other scenes. The unusual instrumentation (two amplified saxophones and an electric guitar) reveals inspiration from free jazz and underground rock. But more direct sources may be the extremes of minimalism, 20th century composition and abstract art. Borbetomagus sculpt a massive wall of sound that can seem cacophonous and impenetrable on one hand, while rhythmic and beautifully textured on the other. Their 30-year dedication to this vision calls to mind great abstractionists such as Mark Rothko who spent a lifetime grappling with the intensity of a monumental and personal form. Standing on their own at the time of their inception, Borbetomagus went on to inspire everyone from Sonic Youth to Merzbow to a whole genre of music ("Noise") that would become an international force almost 15 years later. Borbetomagus is active on the festival circuit in Europe and Japan.
Thomas Ankersmit
Thomas Ankersmit is a 25 year old saxophonist, electronic musician and installation artist born and raised in the Netherlands and now based in Berlin who combines abstract, intensely focused saxophone playing with hyper-kinetic analogue synth and PowerBook improvisation. He also creates installation pieces that use sound, infrasound and "modifications to the acoustic characters of spaces" that disrupt the viewer/listener's perception of the exhibition space and their presence within it. He's a frequent collaborator with New York minimalist Phill Niblock and Milan-based electroacoustic improviser Giuseppe Ielasi, and other improv partners include Gert-Jan Prins, Thomas Lehn, Keith Rowe, Kevin Drumm and Axel Dörner.
Usurper
Usurper are Ali Robertson and Malcy Duff. Together they have been making improvised sound from dismantled instruments for the past 7 years. They have toured all over Britain, Europe and America. Usurper recently completed a residency in Helsinki, Finland, where they performed, hosted workshops, and created the exhibition "You're A Winner." They are currently completing their second LP for Rel Records, and recording new material for a full length CD to be released by Intransitive Recordings in 2011.
Black Sun presents: Art exhibition by Malcy Duff.
Malcy Duff (b.1978) is a cartoonist from Edinburgh, Scotland. His work includes 'The Blackest Gnome,' 'The Heroic Mosh of Mary's Son,' the 'Rrobots' anthology, and 'The Caddy.' He has exhibited all over Britain, and in Melbourne Australia, and in 2008 he was awarded a Donald Dewar Arts Award for outstanding work in the comic book form. In 2003 he co-founded Usurper with Ali Robertson. They have toured throughout Britain, Europe and America. Duff continues to collaborate with Robertson, and contributes artwork for posters and album sleeves, including a cover and comic book set for their recent LP on Rel Records.
http://www.missingtwin.net/
More to come so stay tuned. x