‘Original Cultures – The Show’ online preview
In the run up to the opening of our exhibition, ‘Original Cultures – The Show’, at the Stolen Space gallery on February 11, 2010 we are giving everyone the chance to preview some of the art created exclusively for the exhibition and which will be available on sale. The exhibition forms part of Original Cultures London 2010, our second event.
This preview is just a small insight into what the artists have created for the occasion and features new works from Ericailcane, DEM and Will Barras as well as audio from Om Unit, Tatsuki and Tayone.
Read on for the previews and be sure to come and see them for yourselves if you are in London between February 11 and March 7, 2010. Please check our events section for full details of all Original Cultures London 2010 activities, opening times and locations.
NOTE: This is only a small fraction of what is on display at the exhibition!
‘Original Cultures – The Show’ gallery
In the slideshow below you can preview some of the art available exclusively at the exhibition, including the pieces used for the limited edition picture discs and the two collaborative prints created especially for the show by the 3 artists. In addition there are also previous pieces by DEM, some of which are available at the exhibition. You can view full details of each image on the Flickr photo set.
Original Cultures picture discs
Original Cultures has produced 6 limited edition picture discs for sale at the exhibition. These are unique audio and visual packages comprising 6×10″ picture discs and accompanying 7″s. Each package includes the following: one 10″ picture disc framed featuring work from Ericailcane, DEM or Will Barras and audio from Om Unit, Tatsuki or Tayone, one separate 7″ featuring two exclusive tracks from Om Unit, Tatsuki and Tayone which can be listened to (this one isn’t framed!).
Below you can preview the picture discs artwork as well as the audio.
Om Unit, Tatsuki and Tayone – Picture Discs audio preview
Ericailcane Picture Disc artwork
These 2 designs will be sold alongside music by Tayone. Each package will feature a 10″ picture, framed and mounted, and a separate 7″ with the two tracks for personal enjoyment.
DEM Picture Disc artwork
These 2 designs will be sold alongside music by Tatsuki. Each package will feature a 10″ picture, framed and mounted, and a separate 7″ with the two tracks for personal enjoyment.
Will Barras Picture Disc artwork
These 2 designs will be sold alongside music by Om Unit. Each package will feature a 10″ picture, framed and mounted, and a separate 7″ with the two tracks for personal enjoyment.
Original Cultures Remixed vol 1 – update and full line-up
Following our earlier announcement about the Original Cultures Remixed volume 1 project, we can now give you a full upate on proceeding as well as a confirmed line-up.
The remix project is a fairly straight forward activity which takes place following each Original Cultures event, primarily over the internet. Once an event is finished we select elements of the works created by the artists during this event and pass these onto new artists to create remixes. The new artists are chosen by both the organisers and the artists involved in the event, with each country (UK, Italy and Japan) and art strand represented by a new artist and remix.
The remixes themselves currently follow one of three formats:
- audio remixes ie. elements of audio created during an event are given to an artist to create an audio remix/track
- video remixes/soundtracking ie. video footage from the event or videos created during an event are given to an artist to remix and/or soundtrack
- visual remixes ie. elements of visual art created during an event are given to an artist to use as the basis for a new work, such as painting, fine arts, etc…
For the first remix project we have asked 6 new artists to work on audio remixes and video remixes/soundtracking. The audio remixes will include 3 tracks created from parts 2tall/Om Unit, Tatsuki and Tayone wrote during their music workshops at our Bologna event earlier this year. The video remixes will see 3 artists remix and/or soundtrack the animation Will Barras, Ericailcane and DEM created in Bologna.
The final line up for the first volume of our remix project is as follows:
- Baku, JP – Tokyo-based underground pioneer, famous for his role in shaping the current underground hip hop and turntablist scene in Tokyo, chosen by Tatsuki for an audio remix
- Slugabed, UK – Brighton-based electronic producer, part of a new generation of producers currently making waves worldwide, chosen by 2tall for an audio remix
- Deda, IT – Legendary Italian producer and arranger with a long standing reputation in the Italian hip hop scene chosen by Tayone for an audio remix
- Memory9, IT – London and Milan-based electronic producer, connecting the dots between dub, electronic music and hip hop, chosen by the organisers to soundtrack the animation
- Mistah Klevvah, UK – London-based producer, formerly part of the groundbreaking Various Production outfit and now working under a new solo name, chosen by the organisers to soundtrack the animation
- Gorgonn, JP – London-based Japanese producer behind Doqqebi Q, currently working on other projects with Japanese and European artists, chosen by the organisers to soundtrack the animation
We are planning to hold an online showcase of the remixes in early February ahead of our Original Cultures London ‘10 event. We will also feature the works during the London event. Full details to be announced shortly. Stay tuned
Original Cultures showcase @ Vibe Live, London
We return for another London showcase ahead of the Original Cultures London 2010 event. This time we take over the Vibe Live venue on Brick Lane with the help of our friends from Open Sauce.
On Sunday 29 November 2009, we’ll be showcasing live music and art (painting and more) from our artists and friends as well as showing movies, docus and live footage from previous events and more.
Artists will include 2tall/Om Unit (UK), Mistah Klevvah (UK), Mr Beatnick (UK), RUN (IT) and Will Barras (UK) alongside the Open Sauce DJs and The Reptiles, who will be doing a live show.
The event runs all day from 3pm until 11.30pm with food, comfy sofas and things to do, see and read. And best of all it’s FREE all day. So no excuses not to come and enjoy free art on a sunday, in one of the best parts of town – the Brick Lane market with its many food stalls and bargains is outside the door of the venue.
Full details below, flyer above and you can RSVP via our Facebook event page here.
Saucy Sundays – Open Sauce vs Original Cultures
Two collectives go head to head over the course of one afternoon with a selection of movies, docus, live footage, live art, DJs and live music. ALL FOR FREE!
Open Sauce presents…
The Reptiles – LIVE (Liquid Playthings)
DJs Man One and Don Grizzly
And a selection of footag…e ’sauced’ from previous eventsOriginal Cultures presents…
Om Unit – LIVE (All City/Terrorhythm)
Mistah Klevvah – LIVE (ex-Various Prod.)
DJs Kper (Original Cultures/Rhythm Inc) and Mr Beatnick (Shhhh)
Live painting, drawing and other visual fun from Will Barras (UK) and RUN (IT)
And a selection of live footage and visual art from previous eventsFREE ENTRY ALL DAY AND NIGHT w/ free popcorn, comfy sofas, things to read, see and do
Sunday 29th November at Vibe Live (above Vibe Bar), Brick Lane, London.
Original Cultures Bologna pilot – Audio documentary 2
Following from last week, here is part 2 of the audio documentary detailing the music workshops and live showcase that took place during the first Original Cultures event in Bologna in June 2009.
You can read a detailed explanation of this documentary and what it is documenting here.
Following this audio documentary we’ll have a video documentary to accompany it which will give more insight into the showcase and visual arts work done alongside the music during the week. This video documentary will be online by the end of september. You can see a full schedule below.
Original Cultures Bologna pilot: audio and video documentary schedule
- 26/08/09 – Audio documentary pt1 (streams)
- 02/09/09 – Audio documentary pt2 (streams)
- 03/09/09 – Audio documentary podcasts pt1
- 09/09/09 – Audio documentary podcasts pt2
- Late september – Video documentary pts 1 and 2 (stream and podcast)
The audio and video documentaries are the second part of our online documentation, with the first part consisting of short video edits, photos and blogs of what happened during the week. You can find a round up of all these below.
Original Cultures Bologna pilot – Audio documentary 1
In the first week of June 2009, Original Cultures held its first even in Bologna. Over the course of the week 6 artists from the UK, Italy and Japan, and the fields of music and visual arts, were brought together under one roof (well technically many roofs) to create art, exchange and learn via workshops, seminars and more. The idea was simple: to create and facilitate cultural exchange between Japan and Europe through the medium of modern performing arts.
The results of all this work were showcased in a final event on the evening of the last day. Over 2 hours the 3 musicians performed the music they’d spent the previous 3 days creating while the visual artists showcased the artwork they’d created to go alongside it, a combination of animation and a modern take on chinese shadows.
Everything that was done was documented, and finally after a few months wait we’re able to start divulging more of what happened, starting with an audio documentary of the music workshops and showcase.
This audio documentary will be in two parts, and you can see a full schedule of what you will get and when below. Following this audio documentary we’ll have a video documentary to accompany it which will give more insight into the showcase and visual arts work done during the week. This video documentary will be online by the end of september.
Original Cultures Remixed vol 1
The first Original Cultures remix project is underway and after a couple months’ planning and scheming we can finally reveal some details. Titled Original Cultures remixed vol 1, the remix project is an integral part of Original Cultures’ program of activities (or CEP), more on which you can find here.
The remix project is a fairly straight forward activity which takes place following each Original Cultures event, primarily over the internet. Once an event is finished we select elements of the works created by the artists during the event and pass these onto new artists to create remixes. The new artists are chosen by both the organisers and the artists involved in the event, with each country (UK, Italy and Japan) represented by a new artist and remix.
The remixes themselves currently follow one of three formats:
- audio remixes ie. elements of audio created during an event are given to an artist to create an audio remix/track
- video remixes/soundtracking ie. video footage from the event or videos created during an event are given to an artist to remix and/or soundtrack
- visual remixes ie. elements of visual art created during an event are given to an artist to use as the basis for a new work, such as painting, fine arts, etc…
For the first remix project we have asked 6 new artists to work on audio remixes and video remixes/soundtracking. The audio remixes will include 3 tracks created from parts 2tall/Om Unit, Tatsuki and Tayone wrote during their workshops at our Bologna event earlier this year. The video remixes will see 3 artists remix and/or soundtrack the animation Will Barras, Ericailcane and DEM created in Bologna.
We are still finalising the full line up however we can announce that Blue Daisy will be remixing 2tall/Om Unit for the UK, while Baku will be remixing Tatsuki for Japan. On the video remix front Memory9 will be remixing and soundtracking the animation for Italy. We’ll be announcing the remaining participants for the remix project very shortly!
All these remixes will be made available online to view, listen to and download in October, as part of an online showcase. Following this we’ll also be including them as part of the exhibition that will take place at our London event in November 2009. More on that particular event very soon too. For now we recommend you check these artists for yourselves and stay tuned for more documentation from the Bologna event including an audio and a video documentary dropping in September.
Tatsuki – Original Cultures Radio
Our second Original Cultures radio show is now available for download as part of our audio podcast series. Original Cultures radio is a monthly radio show hosted on Samurai FM. Every month we bring you exclusive mixes and audio from Original Cultures artists and events, which can be streamed on Samurai FM before being made available for download right here (generally a few weeks later). You can find the show on the Original Cultures page on Samurai FM.
This second mix is brought to you by Tatsuki, the Japanese producer and musician who alongside 2tall/Om Unit and Tayone performed at the first Original Cultures in Bologna last month. In his mix Tatsuki delves deep into influences and favourites including fellow Japanese artists Goth Trad, Baku and Krush. Tracklist and download link below.
The next Original Cultures radio show will feature audio from our first event. Stay tuned for more detail and till then enjoy!
Tatsuki – Original Cultures radio
1. Intro
2. Vice Verzen Instrumental
3. tatsuki* Loop 1
4. Ekaj – Enmap
5. Apes on Tapes – Grand 5
6. Goth-Trad – Acid Steps
7. Dj Baku – Element for Perfect
8. Dj Krush feat Mc Kan – Mosa
9. Dj Shadow x Depeche Mode – Painkiller
10.Dj Krush feat Tatsuki – Deck’s Athron
11.Dj Krush – Kemuri Untouchable Mix
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Original Cultures x Museo della Musica
From July 4th to 31st, Original Cultures will be holding an exhibition at the Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica di Bologna showcasing all the art created during the Original Cultures pilot, which was held from June 4 to 6, 2009.
For full details check our detailed event post.
Where: Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica di Bologna
When: July 4-31 (all day)
Contact details for museum: Tel. 051 2757711 • museomusica@comune.bologna.it
Launch: Saturday 4 July at 12,00
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 9.30 to 16.00 • Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays: 10.00 to 18.30 • closed Mondays
Original Cultures Bologna 09 – Day 4 video
And here we are, a video edit of Day 4 the last day of the Original Cultures pilot. Featuring work from all the artists during our live showcase which took place on the evening of Saturday June 6 at Si, in Bologna.
Edited by The Slow Breakfast. Available as a direct download in HD quality (quicktime format) optimised for iTunes and iPod viewing. Direct download link beneath the preview.
Look out for one more video edit of the Original Cultures pilot and then we will be working on a short documentary of the entire week which will be made available during the summer. For now though enjoy!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 4
Original Cultures – Day4
Doggy doggy doggy.
Chocolate brownies! The real deal.
How could we forget the chocolate day on Friday?
Gettin’ ready for the show.
Radio Citta del Capo.
On the air.
Seminar took place at Modo Infoshop. A great art and book spot in Bologna.
DEM a.k.a. the super cock
Seminar begins.
Ayami, one of 2tall’s biggest fans who flew in from London to be with us all in Bologna!
Another great dinner with the crew.
Tatsuki – http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 3
Original Cultures – Day3
I could eat this every day!
Onushi, my famous dog!
Me, Tayone and Davide.
Tayone and his Serato set up.
2tall’s stuff.
And mine. Non c’e male!
Tatsuki – http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
Original Cultures Bologna 09 – Day 3 video
We return for the third time, with a video edit of what happened during day 3 of the Original Cultures pilot featuring footage of the visual arts workshop, soundcheck and the seminar at the Modo Infoshop.
Edited by The Slow Breakfast. Available as a direct download in HD quality (quicktime format) optimised for iTunes and iPod viewing. Direct download link beneath the preview.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Editors’ blog – Workshops day 3
We are sorry but this post is not yet available in English.
Da Alarico Mantovani.
Nuovo ingresso in formazione stamattina: Bruno Briscik, il carismatico violoncellista che fa coppia con Tayone nei Rajasful, è già all’opera con gli altri sul palco del San Leonardo. Quando entro in sala vengo letteralmente assalito da un suono hard e possente, con un Briscik in piena, molto hendrixiano, e gli altri che macinano come treni… wow! Con l’aggiunta di questo tassello il set è ormai pronto: Bruno suonerà in quattro dei pezzi del trio. Il live ha ormai una sua chiara fisionomia: in sostanza copre uno spettro molto ampio, composito e multiforme, che va dall’electro al funk attraverso atmosfere talvolta dance talvolta jazzy, con l’hip hop, più o meno astratto, sempre in filigrana o fortemente presente in qualità di impalcatura ritmica. La curiosità cresce…
Intermezzo.Tayone assurge ormai a mattatore. Esilarante quando snocciola la tracklist dei pezzi su cui si sono accordati: “Paglia”, “Dog Food”, “Non capisco”, “Pistacchio” e così via… Tatsuki e Jim 2Tall se la ghignano… ed io più di loro…
All’ora dell’aperitivo appuntamento alla libreria Modo Infoshop per la presentazione di Original Cultures, con tutte le voci dei protagonisti a raccontare l’idea progettuale e lo stato dell’opera ad un pubblico non straripante ma assai attento ed interessato… Ormai l’attenzione di tutti è già rivolta alla serata conclusiva, la summa di quest’inedita esperienza… Attendiamo trepidanti…
——————
Da Giorgia Soncin.
Originalcultures workshop day3
Terzo giorno di work in progress per i tre artisti che in questa giornata procedono nella realizzazione di idee e aggiungono tasselli alla composizione finale.
Una parte del lavoro si svolge presso lo studio di Ericailcane per poi spostarsi al Sì, dove lo spazio, una volta montati gli strumenti dei musicisti, ha già cambiato volto, e sarà presto popolato dai personaggi nati nelle giornate precedenti. Ciascuno di essi prenderà posizione preparandosi allo spettacolo di domani sera.
A vederlo, non ci si crede che in soli tre giorni sia stato possibile tutto questo, senza attività frenetiche e senza la pressione a cui siamo abituati, quello che si nota è sicuramente la sinergia che si è creata tra i tre, ed è evidente che il risultato finale sarà tutt’altro che scontato. E’ un’esperienza di vita oltre che artistica, basata sulla condivisione di idee e competenze tecniche ma anche sull’interazione tra le cosiddette “conoscenze tacite” che fanno parte del bagaglio culturale di ciascuno degli artisti che partecipano al progetto.
Si creano connessioni, le idee prendono forma superando le barriere stilistiche e linguistiche. L’arte, in tutte le sue manifestazioni si conferma come linguaggio universale oltrepassando, si direbbe, anche la dimensione temporale.
Lasciando un velo di mistero, possiamo solo dire che saranno rievocate sia la tradizione orientale che la dimensione pre-onirica dell’infanzia; come una finestra aperta su una dimensione parallela.
E’ affascinante seguire l’evoluzione di questo progetto, volutamente partito da zero e sfociato in un’opera collettiva perfettamente sinergica con gli spazi e coesa dal punto di vista artistico, inteso in tutte le sue forme.
Eloquente più che mai, nella sua essenzialità, l’intervento di Will Barras alla presentazione di Original Cultures, quando dice che, inconsapevolmente pur non lavorando insieme, i tre musicisti hanno prodotto un lavoro che si identifica pienamente con il lavoro dei visual artists e viceversa.
Questo è Original Cultures, chi verrà domani potrà entrare a far parte di un mondo parallelo in cui si può veramente parlare di performing arts nel senso più ampio del termine, dove la musica dal vivo interagisce con le esperienze più diverse dell’ambito visivo: dal live painting al video, passando attraverso la suggestione delle ombre cinesi.
Organisers’ blog – Day 3
And again, sitting here in the kitchen with coffee on one side and brioches and panini on the other. It’s the morning of day 4, and even though they say all good things come to an end, I really feel like I don’t want this beautiful experiment to end. Looking back on day 3 though there’s been plenty of great moments, more lessons learnt and some great memories made.
In the morning the musicians had the last of their workshop session, using the 3 or so hours to tighten up their set as well as working with Bruno Briscik on how to bring his Cello on three of the tracks they’d already prepared. Two of them Bruno will be adding some bass, while on one of them he’ll be an integral part of the track. Bruno has a bit of a reputation round these parts for being hard to work with and bringing a certain element of jinx to shows. Seeing him connect with 2tall and Tatsuki was a real pleasure, as we all drank coffee and he reminisced about his days in New York, and seeing as he and Tayone have been working together for years the whole issue of being hard to work with never really reared its ugly head. As for the jinx though, he managed to break his wah wah pedal and blow up his amp in less than 2 hours, which didn’t surprise our resident technician Yassin who took it all with a smile, and the hope that today when it comes to the show, the same thing doesn’t happen.
By lunch time the musicians were done and we were ready to move their equipment from the workshop space to the venue (which are luckily next door to each other) and prepare for a quick soundcheck. First though was a quick lunch with a bonus chocolate ending as our local ice cream sponsor was having a chocolate day much to the pleasure of Tatsuki and 2tall who’ve been wolfing down more sugar this week than in an entire year.
Following lunch I sat down with the Slow Breakfast guys, our resident film crew, to try and figure out what was the issue with our movies not displaying properly on Vimeo. Thanks to some help from the homie Hentsix and the FAQ pages we got to the root of it and as we all sat down at Alessandro’s place to work, things started to go a little wrong – my PC overheated and refused to work, leaving with me with the only choice to cool it with a fan. At the same time the Slow Breakfast were having a nightmare figuring out how to maintain the bit rate for the videos, but after an hour or two of pulling our collective hair out it all started working again and the videos and websites were updated and working as they should have (peep the embed below)
Elsewhere in the afternoon the musicians went to do a radio interview on Citta del Capo, while the visual artists continued to work on the various elements needed for their animation and shadow based visual show. Work which even at midnight after dinner was wrapped was still ongoing (more on that in a bit). Another crucial element of the afternoon was the need for us to prepare and map out our seminar which was taking place in the evening from 7 to 9 at the Modo Infoshop, a famous bookshop in Bologna and meeting place for many of the city’s artists.
Having realised the lessons we needed to take from the seminar on the previous day we tried our best to put together a stronger approach for this seminar, deciding on precisely who would do what, when and how – give or take the unpredictable element that always comes with these things. In the end the seminar and q&a session was still a success, with a good turnout and a strong presentation of the project and feedback from the artists about their experience so far. And yet still we lapsed: we forgot to print out the questionnaires to get feedback from the public, we still didn’t quite get the translation to work as well as it could have and we also still needed to tighten up our seminar game. It’s by no means a big deal, but for me personally I now know that the biggest lesson I will take from this pilot so far is the need to really prepare and oversee the activities where the public is involved. When it comes to activities with the artists we have pretty much on lock, we’re strong in that area and we’ve only got a few small lessons to take away. When it comes to the public’s involvement though, we still have a lot to learn.
I kind of live tweeted the seminar, partly for fun and partly to further prove our point that we want to use the internet as much as possible to give people a chance to have an insight into what happens even if they’re not there.
The evening wound down with some drinks in the bar next door to Modo Infoshop, as the artists and organisers mingled with the public, friends and others. And that’s when something amazing happened. Tatsuki introduced me to a Japanese woman, Ayami, who has come all the way from London after discovering Original Cultures on the Samurai FM website. Not only that but she’d come from London with no money, and so decided to find a couch to surf on using the internet, finding herself in the house of one of the girlfriends of one of the guys who works at Modo Infoshop! They were only too happy to host her for a few days as they knew about our event. To know that someone went to that much effort to witness what we’re doing, and to know that things worked out for them as much as they’ve been working out for us, was simply incredible. She’s a big fan of all the visual artists and also Jim 2tall’s work and so we introduced her to the artists and spoke for a few hours. As Jim said afterwards, it’s not just bless, it’s a manifestation of what we’re trying to do here – bring people from different cultures and countries together under the banner of the arts, to allow them to share and experience together.
The day ended once more with an amazing dinner from Lisa, and for the first time pretty much everyone involved in the pilot was around the table: from the artists to the organisers, the film crew, the photographers, the technicians and the venue owners. To see us all there in the courtyard, drinking, eating and being merry, sharing stories and experiences, discussing the week’s event was really special for me. I know we have achieved one of our aims, especially when I think back to the fact that there hasn’t been one time this week where I haven’t bumped into one of the artists involved in the project and he hasn’t smiled at me as the first thing he did. We have brought people together and made them share something unique, through this idea of cultural exchange. We’ve allowed artists to create something they’ve never done before, to take part into an ‘experiment’ that was taking shape as it was happening, controlled by them as much as by us. And so I now know that as much as I don’t want it to end, it’s really only the beginning of something that we are all going to ensure lasts as long as possible.
I’ll leave you with some quotes and the usual links, and the knowledge that our showcase tonight will truly be something unique, never to be repeated. If you can’t be there, don’t worry we’ll have you covered in the coming weeks with videos and more. And if you can be there, then I look forward to sharing this experience with you all.
Bless.
Quotes:
It’s like Big Brother but without the bullshit and wasting time. Instead we make art on the spot.
Tayone, speaking about the documentation aspect of the Original Cultures project.
I’ve never done a collaborative project like this, it’s amazing.
Will Barras, talking about the visual arts workshops he’s been taking part in all week.
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Original Cultures Bologna 09 – Day 2 video
And again. Video edit of the day 2 music workshop proceedings during the Original Cultures pilot. Tayone, 2tall/Om Unit and Tatsuki tighten up the music for their showcase and prepare for a seminar and q&a session with the public.
Edited by The Slow Breakfast. Available as a direct download in HD quality (quicktime format) optimised for iTuns and iPod viewing. Direct download link beneath the preview.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Organisers’ blog – Day 2
And so we continue, day 2 less coffee and cigarettes but just as much adrenaline pumping through my veins and it’s not even midday yet. I’m writing this at the start of day 3, looking back over the second day of the Original Cultures pilot, where the highs were kept and lessons were learnt.
Something ticked in my head in the morning of day 2, as I walked to the venue for more workshops. I realised that we (the organisers) had been working to ensure everything was as perfect as possible, without thinking twice about it, and yet this was still just a pilot – if things went wrong it was ok, it was ’supposed’ to happen because we were there to learn more than anything. This didn’t mean I wanted us to take it easy, but in a way it made me feel better about the possibility of things not going according to plan.
The artists meanwhile were as happy and productive as the previous day. I met up with them following their morning of workshop, where they told me that they’d managed to put together another 6 tracks in the space of 3 or so hours. Productivity is definitely the word there.
As the afternoon kicked in we continued the music workshop, and started to set up in the Spazio Si for the first open activity of the pilot, a 2h q&a/seminar session with the musicians. We fed a stream from their room into the Si, while people came in and sat down for 50 mins or so, watching and hearing what the guys were doing as they did it.
And this is when things started to deviate from the plan, and lessons started to be learnt, for me as an organiser at least. A professor of music who was supposed to come with his students could not make it at the last minute, leaving us with an audience of passers by, curious music fans and producers and DJs, I’d say about 15 people.
As I brought the musicians out to start the seminar it hit me that I should have prepared this a lot better than I did. Due to time issues, other duties and importantly my high level of tiredness I made some simple organisational mistakes when it came to moderating the panel, taking it on me to not just moderate but also translate, and within about 20 mins, my brain was so frazzled from doing it all at pretty much once that I started to slip.
In the end though the seminar was a success I think we can fairly say – the audience enjoyed it, the feedback questionnaires showing some interesting points and great reception. The artists enjoyed it and so did we, but the lesson was definitely learnt, and soon as the seminar finished I was sitting with Cristian, one of the other organizers, and discussing how to avoid these mistakes on the evening of day 3, when we do a second seminar and q&a session at the bookshop Modo Infoshop, where we will also be presenting the project to the public.
Day 2 was also the first time I got to see what the visual artists, DEM, Ericailcane and Will Barras, had been cooking up in Erica’s workshop as they set up in the Spazio Si in the evening to do some tests for the final showcase. The simple rehearsals and tests of their visual ideas left me simply speechless… and I won’t give away too much but enough to say that they’ve come up with ideas, both artistic and technical, to essentially create projections on the walls using cut out characters and a Chinese shadow technique that has been modified. And that’s just one bit of it! ù
Talking with them and seeing their ideas take shape was not just a pleasure but also essential to allow me to start understanding just how everything might fit together on Saturday. Talking to Will we agreed that ultimately regardless of preparations and aims, the visual and the musical will come together because they always do, and a narrative will come out of it, whether or not we aim for it (and by the way we’re not really). And beyond that, the beauty for me is that this narrative will most likely be different for everyone who witnesses the showcase.
The day wound down with another beautiful dinner courtesy of our splendid chef Lisa and some very deep and pleasant chats with 2tall, Will, Tatsuki and my homie Hentsix (who has joined us for the rest of the week) about art, culture and the internet. More on that later, maybe.
For now though I have to rush back to the Spazio Si and see how Bruno Briscik, the famed Italian multi instrumentalist, is getting on with the musicians. That’s right, we’ve managed to get him to join them for 3 tracks where he’ll be playing his cello alongside their more or less electronic compositions. I’ve already seen about 30 mins or rehearsals and discussions and I know it’s going to be something very special too. Bruno, a classically trained musician who loves to play in non classical situations, and 3 producers and DJs who are as far removed from classical training as you can imagine. Check our Tumblr and other sites for sneak peeks as it happens!
I’ll leave you for now. Be sure to check our other blogs too, and stay tuned for the last two reports of day 3 and 4 as well as more video and audio.
Bacci da Bologna!
Laurent
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Artist blog – 2tall day 2
Ok, so take one dangerously introspective bedroom based music producer who debates walking 5 minutes to sainsburys instead of taking the bus for 2 stops and drop him in Bologne and let him loose with other artists to create a selection of live material to be performed 5 days later.
We’ve been using our machines to work up something to play for Saturday’s show, not knowing how initially but gradually just allowing for it to take shape, learning each other’s capabilities and styles and pushing new ways of working so we can connect. The final product of which the reader will hear very soon.
The people here are so kind and welcoming it is overwhelming. It seems so natural for our hosts to be so kind and to keep giving so much that I find it difficult not to overthank them!
To quote Will Barras, everything here is just a level up. And it’s true, even the crisps taste better!
There are not many places i’ve seen that have such a laid back feel for a city, but also it seems that it’s been “lived in” so much that it seems that even the buildings have some kind of inherent wisdom to them, almost like they soaked up the experiences of those that lived and worked in them.
We are playing in a old theater that I believe was once a nunnery, it’s homely and even our rehearsal room is as welcoming as the people in the morning.
Anyway enough romantisising about painted plaster, I have to get some sleep, last day of tightening up the show tomorrow, where we expect Bruno Briscik and his cello to come and add some extra skill to our already colourful manifestation.
P.S: the ice cream is just incredible. not to mention the great simplicity of the wonderful home cooked food we are treated to every day by the magic “jesus feeds the five thousand”-esque talents of Lisa.
Bless!
2tall / Om Unit – dj2tall.com
Editors’ blog – Workshops day 2
We are sorry but this post is not yet available in English.
Da Giorgia Soncin.
Da oggi cambio di location, che si sposta dallo studio di Ericailcane agli spazi del Sì in via San Vitale 67 a Bologna, luogo deputato per l’evento conclusivo di sabato sera. E’ da oggi che le idee dei tre artisti prendono forma e interagiscono con lo spazio dandogli nuova vita.
Dopo gli interventi dei tre musicisti, che hanno permesso al pubblico di prendere parte alla gestazione del progetto, anche per quanto riguarda ERICAILCANE, DEM e WILL BARRAS, partono ufficialmente le prove in in loco che anche in questo caso dialogano con l’ambientazione scegliendo i linguaggi figurativi più diversi.
Altri elementi si aggiungono dunque alla composizione finale: L’interazione con lo spazio e la scelta di coniugare forme di espressione artisticha legate alla tradizione, che troppo spesso nell’arte contemporanea viene sottovalutata o messa da parte, con le tecnologie del video e dello screening.
Come giustamente ha detto Tayone, uno dei tre musicisti coinvolti nel progetto: “Non aspettatevi uno show come gli altri”. Né dal punto di vista musicale, né tantomeno da quello scenografico in cui gli artisti si riapproprieranno dell’ambiente rivoluzionando con esso l’intero spazio percettivo degli spettatori.
———————————————-
Da Alarico Mantovani.
Sono arrivati i sub! E si sente…! Il Teatro San Leonardo rimbomba di bassi belli pieni e potenti mentre i Nostri sono all’opera sul materiale di ieri, per raffinarlo, ampliarlo e rielaborarlo al meglio. E’ già pronto un set di almeno una dozzina di pezzi, tutti preparati con impressionante rapidità, nell’arco di appena due giorni. Oggi pomeriggio, entrando in sala, pare evidente che il dialogo artistico stia decollando. La musica del trio assume un livello di fluidità palpabile, è rotonda e scorrevole ma incalzante… a tratti rivela qualche parentela con quei Glitch Mob su cui cadrà il discorso qualche ora più tardi…
Alle 18, come previsto, inizia il workshop dedicato alla sezione musicale di Original Cultures. Il pubblico si dispone nell’adiacente sala dello spazio Sì, dove si svolgerà lo show di sabato, ed assiste ad una dimostrazione in diretta video di Tay, 2Tall e Tatsuki, un assaggio del lavoro che stanno allestendo. Il live demo viene ripreso tramite una telecamera e proiettato su un grande schermo. Al termine del set gli artisti raggiungono i convenuti ed inizia una conversazione/interazione/intervista, gestita e moderata dal sottoscritto e da Laurent Fintoni. La discussione tocca diversi argomenti: in primo luogo la differenza tra l’attività musicale che comunemente svolge un producer e la peculiarità offerta invece da Original Cultures, quella di poter interagire giorno dopo giorno, gomito a gomito, in un’atmosfera di cameratismo creativo e spirito di condivisione di un’esperienza inusuale.
Il focus si sposta poi sulle modalità operative che si sono stabilite tra gli artisti: ne emerge in sostanza una sorta di intercambiabilità, casualità ed eterogeneità dei ruoli in fase di composizione. La chiacchierata scivola quindi sul ruolo del produttore e su quelle che sono le difficoltà di mettere in scena un live davvero efficace ed esauriente al giorno d’oggi. Non potevo non chiedere infine quali sono i loro preferiti al momento e tra i nomi escono Flying Lotus, Mark Pritchard e diversi esponenti della scena dubstep. Ottime scelte direi… Le chiacchiere e gli scambi di pareri proseguono in cortile. Fine della seconda giornata.
Organisers’ blog – Day 1
Whoa. I barely know where to start. Fourteen hours days combined with an unhealthy amount of coffee, cigarettes and sugar have left me a bit of a shivering wreck, and it’s only the beginning of the second (official) day. I’ve been for 3 days already, preparing everything and to be honest while I am a bit of a shivering wreck, I’m also incredibly hyper and I feel truly blessed to have witnessed what I have so far. More than that I feel blessed, as one of the organisers and the person with whom the idea for Original Cultures sort of originated, to know that our ideas, our discussions and our wishes are somehow turning to be true, and even better turning out way better than we’d expected.
I’ll keep this first blog post short as I’ve still got tons to do, but to balance the input from our team of writers and some of our artists (blogs from whom you can find here in Italian for the writers and here in Japanese for the artists) here’s an overview of the first official day, and some bits from the first few days.
The mood has been high since all the artists arrived on monday evening and tuesday morning. I think it’s fair to say that the (so far) beautiful weather, the incredible food (cooked by our resident badman chef/caterer Lisa) and the historical surroundings have a lot to do with helping to elevate the mood of all involved.
The music workshops, where Tayone (from Italy), 2tall/Om Unit (from England) and Tatsuki (from Japan) are working for 3 days creating music that will be used in the final showcase on Saturday June 6th, are taking place in the Teatro San Leonardo, a building that was first a nuns’ covent, some 400 years ago. And as we sat for dinner on the Tuesday evening in the courtyard of the Teatro it somehow felt very appropriate that we would be adding our bit of history to this beautiful place.
I’ve primarily been involved in overseeing the music workshops, as I know all 3 artists personally. They are first and foremost friends, and I am a fan of theirs as much as a friend, and so to see them come together and in the space of 8 or so hours put together an already lenghty amount of music and tracks has been incredible to say the least.
Our original thoughts, as organisers, was that on Saturday the showcase, which will last 2 hours, would be composed of roughly 4 movements, 3 x 30mins of solo (one for each artist) and one collective movement of 30mins. This went out the window by the end of the first day of workshops, with Tayone explaining that he felt much happier doing as much collectively as possible. Jim 2tall and Tatsuki both agreed, and so we decided to move forward with the first hour featuring 2tall and Tatsuki doing solos (being that they are the ‘real’ guests as Tayone lived in Bologna for years) and the second hour (or more) composed of a collective movement which the guys are creating as we speak. And truth be told, this is exactly I’d hoped for originally – the reality was that I know that asking artists to put together a 2h live show is demanding a lot, and rests on a lot of factors, especially people getting on and ‘gelling’ if you will. In the end, my hopes are turning reality it seems, as the guys are more than happy to do as much together as possible, and considering we’re about 1/3 of the way through the music workshops I’d say it’s even fair to think that we’ll have a lot more than one hour of music on our hands by the end.
And so day 2 starts. Today are more music workshops, as well as a seminar/meeting/q&a session between the musicians and music students in the late afternoon. While I sit here at home, coffee-ing it up and overseeing the content output of our event, the musicians have already started and I can’t wait to see what rested minds come up with today. Tiredness set in yesterday towards the end, and as Tayone put it “the more we do, the more we have, but also the more we come up with bits that aren’t as good”. Very true, but as 2tall countered “at the end the more we have, the more we can choose from to make sure it’s outstanding”. And that kinda sums it up for me.
I’ll leave you with a few choice quotes, as well as the amazing news that Bruno Briscik, a famed Italian multi instrumentalist with whom Tayone has collaborated on many occasions, will be joining the 3 artists for a couple of featurings on the evening of Saturday.
Oh and as for the visual art workshops, featuring the amazing talents of Ericailcane, DEM and Will Barras, well I’ve not had the time to see much yet, but you can read about it in our writers blog (Italian only for now) and know that what I have seen and spoken about with them leads me to believe that saturday will be special indeed. The 3 of them, from Italy and the UK, will essentially act as directors/choreographers for the showcase, orchestrating a full live, visual show for the music being made. And so far this show includes Chinese shadows, a black box and some very spooky figurines… Considering we’d originally hoped to have them paint walls during the day, something Ericailcane and DEM are known for, to know that they’ll now be doing something pretty much no one has ever seen them do makes me only feel even better. More pics and words soon come. Stay tuned.
From Bologna, with love (and a hell of a lot of coffee).
Laurent
PS: for those interested, so far the music is ranging from slow beats to house to jazzy hip hop and abstract instrumentals. Will post audio soon as I can.
Quotes:
You try and do an event in Italy and not make it about food!
Me, in response to Mark from Skratchworx’s tweet that Original Cultures was basically just about food.
It’s a pleasure to leave the studio, go to a new country and work with new people. The inspiration is unbelievable!
Tatsuki, at the end of the first day of workshops. With some pistaccio cookies on the side.
It just keeps getting better and better!
Jim 2tall, not sure when he said that though!
Links:
See behind the scenes on our Tumblr – originalcultures.tumblr.com
Catch the daily blogs on our site – originalcultures.org/blogs
Catch us over at Shook Magazine on the daily too – shook.fm
Hear us tweet as we go – twitter.com/og_cultures
And don’t forget to check/add/friend/fan us on the Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
Editors’ blog – Visual arts day 1
We are sorry but this post is not available in English yet.
Da Giorgia Soncin.
Tre poetiche, tre artisti, tre modalità lavorative che si attivano per un progetto comune: questo quello che sta succedendo nella prima giornata di workshop del progetto pilota di Original Cultures.
I tre artisti all’opera sono DEM, ERICAILCANE e WILL BARRAS. Il progetto, in continua evoluzione, verrà costantemente seguito e documentato per porre l’attenzione non solo sul risultato finale ma su quelle che sono le dinamiche creative che stanno alla base dell’intera iniziativa.
Quello che ci interessa, infatti, oltre all’evento conclusivo che si terrà sabato 6 giugno, è focalizzare l’attenzione sui processi creativi, sulla creazione di quelle sinergie artistiche che permettono ad artisti diversi di confluire in un’opera collettiva comune pur mantenendo intatta la propria individualità e la propria riconoscibilità.
Sperimentazione oltre che ricerca di sinergia poiché i tre artisti sono legati ad un background figurativo, vicino alle pratiche pittoriche piuttosto che alla costruzione scenografica in senso stretto, il work in progress di oggi e dei prossimi giorni sarà quindi un processo di ricerca fondato su più livelli: quello personale da un lato e quello artistico dall’altro ai fini di produrre non un’opera d’arte statica, ma una sorta di mondo parallelo in grado di interagire con il suono e di diventare protagonista della performance.
Lo scopo della ricerca artistica del workshop è questo: allontanarsi dalle comuni scenografie teatrali per creare una realtà in cui vengano evocati personaggi onirici in un’opera collettiva in grado di accompagnare il pubblico in un mondo immaginifico.
Editors’ blog – Music day 1
We are sorry but this post is not available in English yet.
Da Alarico Mantovani.
Ai nastri di partenza il più in palla è Tatsuki: durante la conferenza stampa svoltasi al Museo della Musica dichiara di essere lieto ed orgoglioso di esibirsi qui a Bologna perché Hidetoshi Nakata (ve lo ricordate?), il più celebre calciatore proveniente dal Paese del Sol Levante, ha in passato vestito la casacca rossoblu. Risata generale.
Una volta giunti alla location destinata ad Original Cultures, i tre dj/producer si dispongono uno dinanzi all’altro su un ampio tavolo quadrato installato al centro del palco del teatro San Leonardo. Una sistemazione ideale per collaborare in progress e conoscersi: inizia così, dopo un lauto pranzo, la prima giornata di prove. Da questo momento cominciano ad edificare, beat dopo beat, scratch dopo scratch, il live set collettivo inedito che presenteranno sabato sera al pubblico. Tutti con i loro portatili, mixer ed i diversi controller che ciascuno ha scelto per l’evento. Tay e Tatsuki utilizzano principalmente i giradischi, con il nipponico circondato da apparecchiature della Korg, l’azienda per cui progetta ed esegue dimostrazioni di strumenti sempre più sofisticati, mentre 2Tall utilizza keyboards ed un drumkit minimale.
Si parte. Scaldano i motori, si annusano su ritmi un po’ sovraccarichi e Tay One propone di scendere su ritmiche un po’ più distese e sincopate: viene fuori una sorta di remix di “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” dei Daft Punk. I tre virano verso un abstract hip hop che poi si fa assolutamente convincente quando assume toni electro-hop su campioni di Kraftwerk e Run Dmc. Jim 2tall inserisce note eteree e traballanti che mi trasportano con la memoria alle atmosfere acquatiche dei Drexciya (Underground Resistance esclama 2tall!). L’amalgama e l’affiatamento sembra crescere sensibilmente con il passare del tempo. La jam successiva si concentra principalmente sulle percussioni, con ritmiche che si fanno piu incalzanti ed una maggior attitudine esplorativa, alla ricerca.
La confidenza tra i tre è ormai piu che buona, complice il gelato al pistacchio elogiato a gran voce da Tatsuki… Ora ci avviciniamo a forme innovative con beat possenti come alcune delle migliori produzioni degli ultimi tempi, vedi l’ultimo Dr. Who Dat?, ma al contempo cerebrali, alla Flying Lotus, con interessanti derive wonky beats, molto Harmonic 313 e Joker. Il livello di coinvolgimento empatico giunge al culmine e così anche la capacità espressiva. A questo punto Laurent Fintoni, durante una pausa, fa il punto della situazione: visti i buoni esiti che si stanno raggiungendo sembra opportuno allungare la durata del live set collettivo a scapito di quelli individuali. Su questo mi trovo perfettamente d’accordo. L’appuntamento è per la giornata successiva.
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 2.1
Original Cultures – Bonus chapter aka Food and The City
This is how it should be done!
Every lunch and dinner we all eat together, staff and artists, Italian style!
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 2
Original Cultures – Day 2
Bologna is an amazing town!
Italian ice cream makes the day, pistachio flavour rocks!
We had a press conference for the project in a music museum.
Here’s a picture I took during my speech at the press conference. I did the speech in Italian, but I told a little lie… my grandfather wasn’t really a ninja, sorry!
The museum already had a small exhibit of some of our work. There was a picture featuring my music and art from Will Barras, it made us look grande!
Here it is, my music and Will’s artwork.
Italy’s representative, Tayone.
And this is England’s 2tall. We cut it up fresh altogether!
Tatsuki x 2tall – drum freestyle from Original Cultures on Vimeo.
もういっちょ!
Tayone x Tatsuki x 2tall – soundcheck improv from Original Cultures on Vimeo.
たつき － http://blog.livedoor.jp/onushi1/
