Just been back to the Isle of Wight for family parties and early summer sun. The more time i spend there the more i want to go back. The island's started to really get things moving again with the festivals attracting the young and beautiful, even to come down and live. Talking with family who were around for, and quite involved with the original 68-70 festivals, has revealed how quickly public opinion changes.
Just a quick one to say look out for the repeated series 'Dr Pfeffer's Lonely Hearts Club coming up on Radio 4. Playing every wednesday in April at 11.15pm (and on listen again) ,this is the radio version of Intimate History that was commissioned last year.
It's been some time since the last entry. A two month stint of 'the rice show' has in the states was, in the appropriate vernacular, awesome. Since then more outings to Cornwall and Zurich have been similarly successful. The show was brought down by Kneehigh whose dedication, friendliness and connection with local audience was inspirational.
Just nestled outside the wonder that is Paradise Forum (see Nov 2006 blog) , The Yardbird is really getting itself together as a great place for a night out. Last night we went to see Israeli 8 piece band, 'The Apples' that were funky as dogshit. The name isn't all that good but the combination of tight-assed brass-led funk and hilarious scratch antics nearly took the roof off.
In a few other pages I've moaned on about some aspects of Birmingham's cultural identity and I'm afraid this will be no different. Read em and weep.
Continue reading "Feel The Heat - Why Brum Tries Too Hard In All The Wrong Places" »
Coming to the end of the 'Of All The People...' run for Metropolis Bienalle in Copenhagen. It's been great to be here but at times a bit frustrating. When the show has poor attendance (which is rare these days) it can feel like a strange Beckettian experiment, wheeling 12 tons of rice around for hours on end for no-one to see. A bit of detective work and it's discovered the press officer has quit - if nobody knows the show is on how is anyone supposed to come?
Just been reminiscing about the project 'One Last Look' i made with Talking Birds last year. Click here for a full film of the 20 minute tour as we took people around the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital to mark its' closure.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/chm/hospitalproject/events/onelastlook/3docs/film/
Highly emotional and a right laugh, the perfect combination. It was a joy to perform, something like 16 times in 2 days?
See here for a taster of 'To Be King' from Intimate History that features Derek's sublime cello arrangement played brilliantly by Matt Sharpe.
http://www.dereknisbet.info/pages/mediaplayer.asp?filename=To_Be_King.mp3
To see a couple of songs performed live in a cabaret setting come to Taylor Johns House in Coventry, Weds 8th August
Overheard conversation walking to the mainstage on saturday night in a crowd with a few fancy dressed types -
Oi! Fucking Al Qaeda! How come you hate christians so much?...Oh sorry mate you're not Al Qaeda, you're a ninja.
I could go on but i'm too chilled to bother - man.
I'm very excited to announce that my show for one audience member at a time is showing as part of the British Council Showcase in Edinburgh this year. Aready half the tickets have been booked by international promoters and we're hoping there will be more take up over the week. So the rest of the 10 minute slots are extremely limited and we're hatching plans for how to distribute them. Read on for details.
It seems like a week ago that we were last in Cork with 'Of all the people...' in 2006. Coming back to the Midsummer festival has confirmed my suspicions that people here are some of the friendliest, funniest people you'll meet. The town seems on the edge of a massive development, which i desperately hope doesn't ruin the relaxed non-commercialist spirit that still lingers in the streets.
The extended Stan posse have been split between Vienna and Rostock since monday. I'm with the Cleansing of Constance Brown crew here in Vienna and the rest (in all there's a total of 17 Stanners out!) are doing the rice during the G8 summit.
No the Swiss installation artist hasn't been incarcerated for crimes against humanity, the title of this entry refers to the european capital of culture event 'All We Need' that we're showing the rice at.
The words 'Work' And 'Ethic' should never appear in the same sentence as far as i'm concerned. Having said that I'm appreciating being really busy at the moment. Since MassMoca I've travelled to Oz to do the rice at Womadelaide - 5500 people in 2.5 days, 40degreesC. Bloody intense.
The trip to the States has come and gone since the last entry. One of the most succesful shows of "Of All The People..." in terms of audience, media exposure, profile and content.
Continue reading "Christoph Buchel - Incredibly good or Seeing how far he can push it?" »
After a small amount of legal wrangling which is best not gone into it's my pleasure to announce Intimate History's radio incarnation.
In a welcome lull from the January storms myself, Craig and little Robin took the Maze out to west Wales and delivered it for a bit of tlc prior to its Budapest trip next month. Mark Blissbody (who had a big hand in building the maze) and family made the break from city life 18 months ago and have settled near the centre for alternative technology in Machynlleth. Good on em I say.
Continue reading "Rural BlissBody and the Black Maze they rode on" »
Recent news about the future of Dartington College of Arts (where I had the privilage of studying) has prompted me to write this open letter.
In short the college may have to relocate.
Anyone who has been involved with this landmark institution will know what a drastic measure this would be.
Continue reading "Open Letter To Dartington Trust And Dartington College Of Arts" »
Just finished the recording sessions at BBC Mailbox for 'Dr Pfeffer's Lonely Hearts Club', the radio version of 'Intimate History'. All being well the 15 minute shows will be broadcast on Radio 4 every wednesday at 11pm from the 21st February, and if i do say so myself should be corking!
Travelling between Birmingham and London a lot at the moment has confirmed a few suspicions of mine that i'd rather weren't true.
Continue reading "As If You Didn't Know - Worry Where Your News Comes From" »