Rough Fields - James Birchall & Sarah Faraday

(English below)

Undanfarnar vikur hafa bresku listamennirnir James Birchall, hljóðlistamaður og Sarah Faraday, myndlistarkona, dvalið í Fjúk, listamiðstöðinni í Húsavík þar sem þau hafa numið og skrásett umhverfi sitt með hljóðupptökutækjum og myndavélum. Hugleiðingar um kyrrð og þögn í landslagi hafa verið alls ráðandi og þau freistað þess að ná utan um og miðla hugleiðslukenndu ástandi í hljóð og mynd. Afraksturinn gefur að heyra á sérstökum viðburði í Mengi fimmtudagskvöldið 31. mars þar sem marglaga vettvangshljóðritanir James og íhugul myndskeið Söru veita þeim sem hlustar og horfir tilfinningu fyrir framrás tímans í landslaginu.

Samstarf James og Söru hefur staðið yfir í nokkur ár. Frá árinu 2014 hafa þau rekið saman listamiðstöðina Fuse Art Space í Bradford, Englandi, sem er allt í senn, gallerí, listhús og verslun. Í Fuse Art Space hafa verið haldnir fjölmargir tónleikar þar sem komið hafa fram raf, spuna og hljóðlistamenn, listamiðstöðin hefur haldið úti listamannaspjalli, kvikmyndasýningum og vinnusmiðjum, á meðal listamanna sem þar hafa komið fram má nefna Philip Jeck, B. J. Nielsen, Awesome Tapes from Africa, Lafidki, Wanda Group, Basic House, Victor Herrera og fleiri og fleiri. http://www.wearefuse.co

James Birchall starfar undir listamannanafninu Rough Fields. Í tónlist hans má greina allls kyns þræði og áhrif úr noise-tónlist, rokki, þjóðlagatónlist, sígildri tónlist fyrri alda, mínímalisma, raftónlist og tilraunakenndri spunatónlist. Hann hefur sent frá sér 7-tommur, kasettur og geisladiska, sá nýjasti heitir Wessenden Suite en á tónleikunum í Mengi mun James einnig vinna með hljóðritanir sem finna má á þeirri plötu.

Tónleikarnir hefjast klukkan 21. Miðaverð: 2000 krónur.

///

Rough Fields is the solo project of UK-based producer James Birchall. Began in 2011 with a series of epic lo-fi cassettes on the Bomb Shop label, the Rough Fields project progressed through expansive song forms on debut album Edge of the Firelight, and surreal, dreamy pop on the High Time EP. Constructed from a wide array of stringed instruments, found objects and home-made soundmaking devices, his early work brings together influences from drone, UK techno and minimalism to form unique works. In 2013, Birchall collaborated with Steve Reich to release the first ever solo version of “Music For 18 Musicians”. Along with Sarah Faraday, the pair also form drone/noise/electronica Ambrosia(@).

This special show at Mengi will be divided into two parts - the first is pure field recording with minimal manipulation, placing sound recorded on the north and west coasts of Iceland into concrete performative structures, accompanied by meditative films created at each location by photographer, filmmaker and visual artist Sarah Faraday. The second part stems from the 2013 album “Wessenden Suite” - a long-form drone piece constructed from layered field recordings. The performance involves recording environmental sound in the region, and then manipulating those recordings live using Max, Ableton and a series of custom built resonant filters to achieve densely layered textures of blissful, harmonic sound.

Faraday and Birchall have been collaborating for several years as photographer and sound artist, creating projects examining natural environments, works documenting urban developments and their impact on ecosystems, and sound pieces layering field recordings to create musical structures. They are currently artists in residence at Fjuk Arts Centre in Husavik, exploring the concepts of silence and stillness in the landscape, and the ability to capture and express these qualities through sound and film. The challenge is to express this meditative stasis in film, introducing a sense of passing time for the viewer. Although it may seem like a contradictory task - the expression of stillness in moving image, and silence in sound - it’s the virtual impossibility of finding absolute results which gives value to the end product. The meditative viewer is rewarded with the gradual revelation of time passing within the apparently still landscape.

http://www.roughfields.org/

http://www.sarahfaraday.co.uk/

http://www.bombshop.org/

Event starts at 9pm. Tickets: 2000 ISK.