Biting Tongues - live - Royal Institution - Sat May 22nd

[nickking]

Very nearly a live gig this - featuring Ken, Graham and Howard at the Royal Institution Of Great Britain, London:


Electra: electricity in culture

Saturday 22 May 2004
2.00pm - 7.00pm

Prof Steven Connor , Dr Jane Lewty , Sadie Plant , Disinformation vs Strange Attractor

The arrival of electricity didn't only change the face of society: it also had an enormous impact on art, literature and philosophy. Generating a host of new templates for thought and metaphors for representation, the medium brought with it an aesthetic of connectedness, of pulses, flows and relays – a new order in which the self had to be re-thought in terms of circuits and networks. Electra will combine lectures and discussions with performances by artists whose work grapples with the challenges and possibilities this new order brings about – ones that grow more intense with each advance in electronic culture.

Participants will include Joe Banks (artist), Mark Pilkington (Far Out column, The Guardian and contributing editor to Fortean Times), Steven Connor (Prof of Modern Literature and Theory, Birkbeck College), Ken Hollings (novelist), Howard Walmsley (musician), Graham Massey (musician), Sadie Plant (author of Zeros and Ones) and Jo Thomas (composer). Programmed by Tom McCarthy, writer and artist.

This event is in association with the Interdisciplinary Arts Department of Arts Council England.

This event is part of the RiArt series and is open to all. Tickets cost £10, £7 for Ri Members and concessions.

Tickets can be purchased here - http://www.rigb.org/rimain/calendar/boo ... jsp?&id=43

The Royal Institution of Great Britain
21 Albemarle Street
London W1S 4BS
UNITED KINGDOM
(+44) 0 20 7409 2992
(+44) 0 20 7629 3569

Should be good - if anyone is able to go to this, then please let me know, as I'm going to be in Manchester that weekend...

l8rs,


Nick

[nickking]

Some more info - see http://www.bitingtongues.com for more info:

‘Dr X’

A performance for text, electronic sound and digital images

by Ken Hollings, Graham Massey and Howard Walmsley

At the Royal Institution, London Saturday May 22, 2004 between 2 and 7pm

Everyone remembers the name, but no one can place the story. New York 1932: the city is shocked by a series of grisly murders that take place whenever the moon is full. The sinister Dr Xavier and his team of scientists are suspected of the crimes, but no one can prove anything. The only way to trap the killer is by electrically recreating the crimes under laboratory conditions using life-size mannequins.

Filmed nearly 70 years ago in a revolutionary new two-colour separation process, the Hollywood thriller Doctor X is a largely neglected film these days. Its title, however, has entered popular culture as a cipher for everything mysterious, secret and strange. Writer Ken Hollings, in collaboration with composer Graham Massey and filmmaker Howard Walmsley, uses mythically enlarged recollections of the original film to create retrofitted images of a totalitarian futuristic New York in which AC electricity is banned and ‘radio psychics’ are used in the detection of crimes.

Examining electricity, crime, scientific inquiry and pathological behaviour, Dr X is part of the Royal Institution event ‘Electra: Electricity Culture’. It also marks the first time that Ken Hollings, Graham Massey and Howard Walmsley have worked together on an audiovisual project since the film Feverhouse, described as ‘the most important feature film to come out of the North West in many years’ when released on video in 1985 by IKON F.C.L.

‘Electra: Electricity and Culture’ also features contributions from Sadie Plant, Professor Steven Connor, Joe Banks and Jo Thomas. The Royal Institution is located at 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS. Tickets are £10, £7 concessions. More information is available at:

http://www.rigb.org/rimain/calendar/detail.jsp?&id=43

For more information see http://www.bitingtongues.com or http://www.kenhollings.com

l8rs,


Nick

[graham]

This is not a band performance, more of a spoken word/film thing weve put together. The music is very sci fi mad professor 1940s horror.with some live synths and organs..

[nickking]

Sounds good - wish I hadn't agreed to go and see Morrissey in Manchester that day with a couple of mates...

If anyone is going to this, will they be able to report back on the performance for the Biting Tongues site?

Cheers,



Nick

[nickking]

Just as an FYI - there's now a couple of photos online from the Dr X performance last month:

Check out http://www.bitingtongues.com/news.html.

There should also be a performance in Manchester early July - date TBC.

l8rs,


Nick