One of the most eclectic, weird and totally unpredictable events I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing at MAO. This is getting back to non-commercial art 'happenings' that don't set out to please or patronise the audience. An untempered concoction of poets, authors, performance artists & musicians, giving the audience a 15-20 minute journey into their individual worlds through music, readings and live art. The only criticism I have would be that it was a bit long, but hey, where else in Oxford can you get such a great line-up.
Stevie Wishart had come from Brussels to start the evening with her spellbinding music on hurdy-gurdy as well as a brief talk about the instrument's history. Performance artist Aaron Williamson fed the audience a pack of deeply imaginative anthropological lies about a strange people that worshipped meteorites. Kate Davis delivered a sex-charged lecture on RED alongside a ghostly red cinematic version of herself disappearing into Swiss snow. D. Gwalia played four minimalist songs from his highly acclaimed dark folk album "In Puget Sound". Carter Revard, Osage Poet and Rhodes Scholar, charmed the audience with his wit, wisdom and wonderfully warm delivery of his personal & endearing tales. B. Catling stunned and deafened everyone with his squealing, ear-splitting 'rape alarm' performance. This left the audience with their fingers in their ears and their brains set to disbelief. This was never going to be a straightforward evening!
MacGillivray started the second half of the evening with a haunting mix of ethereal vocals and looped electronica with a fantastically weird and sonically displaced version of Jim Reeves' ''He'll Have to Go". Tom Chivers presented a powerful reading confronting the mic with great confidence and caused the audience to laugh at his reference to the misuse of the word 'literally' - definitely one to watch and already established on the London circuit.
Following Tom was Vahni Capildeo, Salt Published Poet who read a profound selection of works - referencing snapped fingers pouring ash. Lastly, David Cunningham finished with a visceral and emotional electronic set, building loops in real time with a guitar and pedals, accompanied by a projection of shifting colours.
I want more events like this strange and exciting night!
Stevie Wishart had come from Brussels to start the evening with her spellbinding music on hurdy-gurdy as well as a brief talk about the instrument's history. Performance artist Aaron Williamson fed the audience a pack of deeply imaginative anthropological lies about a strange people that worshipped meteorites. Kate Davis delivered a sex-charged lecture on RED alongside a ghostly red cinematic version of herself disappearing into Swiss snow. D. Gwalia played four minimalist songs from his highly acclaimed dark folk album "In Puget Sound". Carter Revard, Osage Poet and Rhodes Scholar, charmed the audience with his wit, wisdom and wonderfully warm delivery of his personal & endearing tales. B. Catling stunned and deafened everyone with his squealing, ear-splitting 'rape alarm' performance. This left the audience with their fingers in their ears and their brains set to disbelief. This was never going to be a straightforward evening!
MacGillivray started the second half of the evening with a haunting mix of ethereal vocals and looped electronica with a fantastically weird and sonically displaced version of Jim Reeves' ''He'll Have to Go". Tom Chivers presented a powerful reading confronting the mic with great confidence and caused the audience to laugh at his reference to the misuse of the word 'literally' - definitely one to watch and already established on the London circuit.
Following Tom was Vahni Capildeo, Salt Published Poet who read a profound selection of works - referencing snapped fingers pouring ash. Lastly, David Cunningham finished with a visceral and emotional electronic set, building loops in real time with a guitar and pedals, accompanied by a projection of shifting colours.
I want more events like this strange and exciting night!