Playing the Building: An installation by David Byrne
You might play a musical instrument but have you ever played a building? Well, until the end of the month you can, at the Roundhouse in London’s Chalk Farm courtesy of David Byrne, the award-winning founder of Talking Heads. He’s turned the live arts venue into a sound installation complete with an old pump organ which has cables and wires attached to everything in the space, from the metal beams to the water pipes and pillars. The devices themselves don’t make any sound but as visitors play the organ, the pipes and beams resonate, ping, vibrate and rattle. Pipes become flutes and walls become drums. Previously at New York’s Battery Maritime Building, this is the project’s UK debut (later he will turn Blackpool Tower into a Casio synthesiser). There will be three nights of special musical jams during the month and ‘pay what you can’ Mondays.
By Emma Love
Rough Cut Nation
A group of young Scottish artists are radically remixing the country’s history. Rough Cut Nation is an installation that updates traditional murals depicting significant events from Scotland’s past using graffiti and street art. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which is closed for refurbishment until 2011, is being temporarily re-opened this month so that the artists can paint, paste and project their images in various media directly onto the gallery walls in the Great Hall and Room 1. Images will be weaved together to create a collage effect and continually added to throughout the exhibition by the artists themselves and even occasionally by visitors to the gallery.
By Emma Love
Fiona Crisp: Subterrania
One of Britain's most interesting photographers brings together her recent series of large-scale, stark images of subterranean space for this fascinating show at Gateshead's BALTIC. Fiona Crisp’s photographs range from Roman catacombs to an underground, German military hospital built in the Channel Islands during the Second World War (pictured above). The haunting images are all architectural locations that are tourist spots today, but were once off-limits or taboo. The result is a stark and unnerving examination of history, time and truth. Powerful, atmospheric stuff, this show is all about sparking your imagination and making you think about what lies beneath. The exhibition transfers to Bradford’s Impressions Gallery from 20 November 2009 to 24 January 2010, and then to Newlyn Art Gallery in Cornwall from 13 February to 17 April 2010.
By Francesca Gavin
A Tradition I Do Not Mean To Break
Key collector Anita Zabludowicz's 176 project space in north London brings together film works by Henry Coombes, Tereza Buskova and David Blandy for A Tradition I Do Not Mean To Break. Music and folklore are the main themes of the exhibition and fans of 1973 thriller The Wicker Man will love Buskova's surreal work in particular. Titled Spring Equinox, her strange, erotic film explores her native Czech folklore and is heavily influenced by fairy tales and fertility rituals. Brimming with ribbons, graphic make up and inventive takes on traditional costumes, it's reminiscent of Tim Walker's vein of fantasy. The other great pull is David Blandy’s ode to American blues guitarist Robert Johnson, titled Crossroads. Johnson, who died aged 33, is said to have sold his soul to the devil at a southern crossroads in return for his musical talent. Blandy’s film captures the beautiful emptiness of the deep south and is brought to life by a life size shack constructed in the gallery. You can’t enter the shack but you can hear a haunting guitar being played inside.
By Francesca Gavin
Workshop Missoni: Daring To Be Different
The Estorick Collection, Islington’s museum of Italian Modern Art, is devoting its intimate two floors to the overwhelming creativity of Missoni. The show celebrates 50 years of the Italian fashion house, exploring how its founders, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni, reinvented knitwear using innovative technology. There are plenty of examples of their unique and very recognisable fine knits, buzzing with rainbow colours, zigzag patterns and texture, but what really comes across in this show is the influence art has had on the Missoni collections – Futurism in particular. You’ll see Futurist pieces from the Missoni family’s own collection, including work by Gino Severini and Giacomo Balla. Workshop Missoni also brings together tapestry designs, collages and ceramics – as well as behind the scenes images and film clips. For more info see estorickcollection.com.
By Francesca Gavin
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