Great Exhibition Road Festival
The Great Exhibition Road Festival: Trailblazers
19th June 2022
12:00-15:30: Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Royal College of Music
Tickets available here.
Join us in South Kensington this summer to enjoy a weekend of free events for all ages and celebrate trailblazing ideas in science and the arts. We'll be bringing a host of exciting installations, instruments and noise-maker for you to explore.
The entire weekend promises to be incredible, including hands-on workshops, fascinating talks, performances and installations from museums, research and culture organisations in South Kensington, including Imperial College London, the Natural History Museum, Royal College of Music, Science Museum, V&A and many more!
Find out more about the Festival and see the full programme on the Festival website at www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk.
Lineup:
Frazer Merrick - Photon Smasher: Make Music With Light:
Discover a hidden world of sound with the Photon Smasher, the handmade microphone that turns light into sound. Artist Frazer Merrick will showcase his hand made instruments which uncover the electro-magnetic soundscape which surrounds us.
The School of Noise runs activities for all ages exploring music and the science of sound. Visit them to play on a theremin, discover beautiful Chladni patterns in sand, send Morse Code messages, use fruits and vegetables to trigger sound and more!
“The School of Noise is one of those ideas that you just KNOW is right: bringing back a sense of wonder & accessibility to music-making.” — Jarvis Cocker
Hannah Kemp-Welch - Homemade Radio Receivers:
Explore the hidden sounds of the radio spectrum with Hannah Kemp-Welch. Hannah will be bringing a selection of her home made radio antennas that she uses to make music and art. She can even show you how to make one of your very own!
'VLF antennas' - antennas that pick up natural radio and very low frequency transmissions. More info here: https://www.sound-art-hannah.com/sferics
'Open Wave-Receivers' - homemade radio receivers, designs adapted from foxhole radio or crystal sets. This is a collaborative project by a collective I'm part of - Shortwave Collective. More info here: https://www.shortwavecollective.net/open-wave-receiver.html
Sam Topley - Noisy Pompoms and Sonic Yarnbombs:
Sam will present a collection of her handmade electronic musical instruments, including a giant pompom which makes sound as it moves and a series of handheld pompom musical instruments which make sound as they are squeezed. Sam will also be creating a "sonic yarnbomb", an interactive textile sound artwork, which you can drop by and contribute to!
Robin The Fog presents Howlround:
Come and be part of a terrifyingly spooky choir in Howlaround with Robin the Fog: Howlaround is a collaborative ambient / sci-fi / horror composition - using two reel to reel tape machines, a microphone and plenty of audience participation!
Richard's sculpture work combines simple powerful ideas involving acoustics and immersion and engages primal senses such as hearing, touch, sight and smell. Intentionally encouraging audience participation through novel technical invention in traditional, digital and additive manufacturing arenas through collaboration with brilliant individuals and organisations. He'll be bringing a collection of installations including Hoopla, Fab, Helter-Skelter, Dumb-bell and Shhare!
Tom from Vulpestruments will be bringing a selection of his amazing instruments and interactive installations for you to play with and make some racket. What amazing sounds can you discover in The Springy Thing and the Inductive Pendulum
Gawain Hewitt - The Sonic Mind:
Sonic Minds is a two-year creative music project working with care experienced children and displaced young people.
Original music and spoken word created by young people captures their stories, experiences, hopes and ambitions. This new music will be heard publicly through the creation of an interactive sculpture of a brain. Sound designer and artist Gawain Hewitt has created a physical sound installation, the sculpture of a brain is cast in pewter and celebrates the unknowable creativity of the brain, emerging, yet anchored, its purpose is to advocate for the project participants – to allow their music and sounds to be presented as art, elevated and celebrated – while they remain safe and anonymous.
Tim Yates - Curio & The Big Blade:
Have you ever wondered how to turn a huge circular saw blade into a 3m gong, or how you can turn a sardine can and a tin mug into a new kind of kinetic musical instrument? Explore the sonic properties of the world around you with new ears with Tim Yates’ Big Blade and Curio - exploratory instruments to expand your mind.
Gawain Hewitt and Tim Yates - Video Drop Video:
Developed for Hackoustic’s appearance at the Tate Modern as part of the Nam Jun Paik retrospective, VideoDropVideo is an interactive installation that plays with randomness, video, sound and meaning. How can we piece together the things that matter from surrounding chaos?