Artist Blog LDN ‘10 – Om Unit Day 4
So after having yesterday off to do something people call a job (I call it hanging out with teenagers and making beats/talking about life) we got together to round off the writing and rehearsals, after a banging Turkish breakfast at Olive’s in Hornsey which brought back memories of being 24, fancy free and probably quite hungover.
So we went through the tracks as per usual – tweaked a bit here and there.The end of the day left me with a feeling we’re gonna freestyle it a bit, but in a good way – its not so static that we have to do everything cleanly and routinely, the music will make itself on the night and I look forward to hearing how it goes on the recording.
Today I also finally managed to get hold of a real Roland 606 (see 1st blog) – it doesn’t work… yet.
Also we had the closing party for the Original Cultures exhibition at Stolen Space – I have to give it up for Beatnick for coming through with plenty of musings on all things music as usual! Once again Charlie Whatley on photo duties doing the humble work and to Ericailcane, DEM and Will for taking time out to do the boards for Stolen Space out in the freezing cold.
See you tomorrow at the show!
Artist Blog LDN ‘10 – Om Unit Day 2
Today I re-discovered the sandwich world deli in Hornsey. Bangin. Oh and we made some more music!
It’s all about the art of stitching ideas together at the moment, that and for me trying to let go of my producer perfectionist ears, I have to remember this is supposed to be fun!
And it is, but my ears are constantly searching for more, and with 3 days only to write up to an hour’s worth of music it’s just not going to be that detailed. It’s about the impact and the feeling.
Sleep time
Artist Blog LDN ‘10 – Om Unit Day 1
Photo by Charlie Whatley.
So after recovering from my 30th birthday party on Saturday night, I awoke early doors this morning to head up to North London to get to the rehearsal rooms for O.C London.
As it turned out the rehearsal space was really a communal space in a converted musician live/work space – complete with sleeping roadie and disgruntled bass player on his 1 day off from touring and who didn’t know of our arrival or arrangements for the week.
So we set up and after some time began writing for the show, I wanted to see if we would connect in the same way as we did in Bologne last year, and in fact we did. Once again the ideas flowed very quickly and we came up with some basic ideas. 6 tracks in total already with working titles including ‘Skid Row’ and ‘Wasabi’.
I have once again opted to use Ableton live as the working platform, this time with the launchpad – within live I am utilising 303 and 606 emulators and a Minimoog emulator (I am not rich enough to buy the real thing!)
The bass player (Dave Delgado) cheered up and decided to come jam with us and even filmed some of the action – he let us sample some licks to use for a potential slow disco piece. The power of music once again bringing people together. peace, unity love and above all… having fun!
‘Original Cultures – The Showcase’ at Corbet Place, March 5 2010
Original Cultures London 2010 will close with ‘The Showcase’. As with our first show in Bologna last year, this will feature an exclusive one-hour performance from our seven artists: the musicians Om Unit (UK), Tatsuki (JP), and Tayone (IT) alongside visual artists Ericailcane (IT), DEM (IT), Will Barras (UK) and Hiraki Sawa (JP).
The performance will feature brand new music and visual works created by the artists in the 3 days prior to the showcase. This will be a totally unique performance, not to be missed. This last sentence may sound like a boast but we mean it – just check the footage from our Bologna show if you don’t believe us (vids on the right hand side). Expect an audio and visual experience like never before!
‘Original Cultures – The Showcase’ will be held at Corbet Place, part of the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, E1. There’s lots of comfy seats, a nice garden for the smokers and a lovely drinks selection at the bar. Doors open at 6pm. Timetable and links below.
Don’t forget that the day before, on March 4th, we will be in the square where both Corbet Place and the Stolen Space gallery are located (at the back of the Truman Brewery) for the closing party of our exhibition featuring all our artists, live painting, music and more. So if you can’t make the Friday than make time for the Thursday, and if you can make both even better!
Venue: Corbet Place
Entry: FREE
Timetable: 6-8pm – Warm up with Original Cultures DJs / 8-9pm – The Showcase / 9-11pm – afterparty with Tayone, Om Unit and Original Cultures DJs
Links:
Corbet Place
Truman Brewery
Original Cultures London 2010 is a week long event taking place in venues around the Old Truman Brewery, London. Full schedule of activities is as follows (full details on our events page):
• ‘Original Cultures – The Show’ an exhibition of brand new works from Ericailcane, DEM and Will Barras, Feb 11 to March 7 @ Stolen Space gallery, with private viewing Feb 11, 6-9pm, free
• Music production workshop for young people, feat. Om Unit and Tatsuki, Feb 27 @ Stolen Space gallery in conjunction with Hackney Council and the DYH 2010 festival
• Closing party for ‘Original Cultures – The Show’ exhibition, March 4 @ Stolen Space gallery featuring all artists, live painting, exclusive art for sale and more, 6-9pm, free
• ‘Original Cultures – The Showcase’ featuring all 7 artists collaborating for a unique audio/
visual show created in the days prior, March 5 @ Corbet Place, 6-11pm, free
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.
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 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/
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…
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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.
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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.
Original Cultures Bologna 09 – Day 1 video
Here it is, a short video edit of what happened during the first day of the Original Cultures Pilot at the music workshop. Featuring Tayone, 2tall/Om Unit and Tatsuki.
Edited by The Slow Breakfast. Available as a HD quality download (115mb) optimised for iTunes and iPod viewing. As usual it should work with all media players, as long as you have the latest codecs.
Click underneath the preview to download!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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/
Artist blog – Tatsuki Day 1
Original Cultures is starting. I’ve come to Bologna. This is day 1.
I’ve come to Bologna for a week. I’m amazed by the city so far.
The view from our flat. I love Bologna.
Fresher than fresh, we’re working in a 500 year old building!
I’ve been taking in the historical feel of the city. There are no Starbucks here, fake coffee doesn’t exist in Italy.
Amazing night!
Original Cultures Pilot – Programme
What? Original Cultures Pilot
When? June 3 to 6
Where? Bologna, Italy
Final programme:
• Thursday 4 June @ Sì, via San Vitale 67
Time 18,00: seminar and meeting with musicians Tayone, 2Tall/Om Unit, Tatsuki
• Friday 5 June @ Libreria Modo Infoshop, via Mascarella 24/b
Time 19,00: seminar and presentation of the Original Cultures project with all artists and staff
• Saturday 6 June @ Sì, via San Vitale 67
Time 18,00/22,00: live aperitivo with live art from Ericailcane, Dem, Will Barras + DJs
Time 22,00/24,00: live showcase with music from Tayone, 2Tall/Om Unit, Tatsuki and art from Ericailcane, Dem, Will. Directed by the artists, one of a kind showcase!
• 1/31 July @ Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica di Bologna
Installation and exhibition of all the work produced during the Original Cultures pilot + extra work commisioned for the occasion
For more information on the artists please visit our Artists section. For full details of each activity please visit our Events section.
See you there!
Original Cultures x Museo Musica Bologna
We are very pleased to announce that Original Cultures has teamed up with Bologna’s International Museum and Library of Music. As part of this the Museum will be an official supporting partner of our pilot event and Original Cultures will organise a month-long installation and showcase in the Museum during the month of July.
The installation will feature works created during the pilot as well as works commissioned especially for the installation from all the artists involved in the pilot.
More details and information regarding this will be made available in the coming weeks. For more information on the Museum please visit their website.
Original Cultures Bologna ‘09 – Live showcase
The live showcase will close the Original Cultures pilot on the evening of Saturday 6 June 2009. The showcase will include works created by the artists during the workshops in the 3 preceding days, as well as documentation media (video, photo) and more.
Taking place in Spazio Si, a modern theater space, the showcase will take on a unique form to reflect the space and intention of the project. This won’t be just a simple showcase but rather an all-evening event that incorporates live and prepared elements.
The showcase will be directed by the artists themselves.
The night will be split into 2 parts: from 6pm until 10pm there will be an ‘aperitivo’ with live painting, music from the Original Cultures artists and organisers as well as the possibility for the audience to meet with and talk some more with the artists. From 10pm until midnight the showcase proper will take place with live music, art and more.
There will be a bar set up in the courtyard adjacent to the theater for the duration of the evening.
Location: Spazio Si
Time: 6pm to midnight (Aperitivo with live painting 6pm to 10pm. Showcase 10pm to midnight)
Entrance: 7,00 Euros
Pilot – Seminar
Seminar session on arts and culture featuring all Original Cultures pilot artists. The seminar will be held at the Modo Info Shop in Bologna’s Via Mascarella on June 5 at 7pm. The seminar is free and open to the public.
Led by moderators, the seminar will look at artists’ history/experiences and how they view the cultural exchange process taking place within the Original Cultures project, its benefits as well as shortcomings. The session will also include a q&a with the audience where further issues and questions can be explored and raised.
Following the seminar, the artists and organisers will move to the bar adjacent to Modo Info Shop for drinks and food and giving the public and anyone else interested further chance to meet and talk to the artists.
Location: Modo Info Shop, Via Mascarella, Bologna
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Entrance: Free, open to the public
Featuring:
- artists: Ericailcane (IT), DEM (IT), Will Barras (UK), 2tall/Om Unit (UK), Tatsuki (JP), Tayone (IT)
- organizers: Laurent Fintoni (Original Cultures), Paper Resistance (Original Cultures), Cristian Adamo (Original Cultures)
- moderators and video: The Slow Breakfast (Original Cultures), Alerico Mantovani (Original Cultures)
Pilot – Workshop day 3
Third day of workshops for the Original Cultures pilot. Musicians and visual artists will work together across different spaces with a focus on creating new and unique collaborative works of art to be used for the pilot’s live showcase as well as the remix project and the installation for the Bologna Museum of Music.
Unfortunately due to some last minute problems these workshops will not be open to the public. They will however be recorded and both audio and video will be made available online following the event.
Location: Spazio Si, Teatro San Leonardo
Music workshop artists: Om Unit, Tatsuki and Tayone
Visual arts workshop artists: Will Barras, Dem, Erica Il Cane
Time: 10.00am to 8pm
