Tuesday 17 May 2011

Ian Castles


Every disease is a musical problem; every cure is a musical solution.” ~ Novalis





Ian Castles is an apprentice social sculptor and contemporary artist. A practice-based researcher living in Ireland, he is working primarily with the ancient notion that 'The World Is Sound' - or in Sanskrit  'Nada Brahma'. This idea finds contemporary validation in quantum physics as matter is shown to consist of continually interchanging energy patterns and vibrating strings. His present work explores the realm of harmonics as a means to rehearse deep listening and as a potential portal to a vast energy field that is hidden from our senses.Utilizing an 'expanded concept of art' as a framework this artist seeks to transgress and challenge the accepted boundaries of art, healing, and music in an attempt to redefine aesthetic as 'enlivened being' and the opposite to anaesthetic which is numbness. In a society which is fracturing under the weight of false philosophies we need to awaken new faculties in order to respond appropriately to the demands of a world on the brink of self-destruction.

September 19th - September 24th, Oxford City Centre

Stimmen - On The Threshold

The German word Stimmen {sshtimmen} as a noun means voices and as a verb it means to tune or to harmonize.
 
In Stimmen – On The Threshold participants will be invited to listen-in to the hidden world of electromagnetic smog that pervades the urban environment whilst the artist transforms the vibrations first into audible tones using an induction coil and then through a process of careful listening, tunes his own voice to correspond, thus raising the vibrations to a conscious level before identifying the corresponding tones and recording them as data on a map of the city. Participants are also free to add their own voice to the proceedings as a way of connecting both with the artist and with the wider field of sound energy of which we are an intrinsic part.The term smog has arisen out of research into the ill-effects of electromagnetic fields on humans and animals and the artist believes that in a secular society free of prescribed dogmas on how to interact with our environs it is our responsibility to acknowledge the unseen forces that surround us, that we harness, transform and utilize daily and to find ways to express our gratitude by gifting our attention both to the animate and the inanimate world bringing something intrinsically human to it. Beyond this we also need to protect ourselves from frequent exposure to unshielded electrical cables and devices and to this end we need to be aware of the smog and its location.

September 29th - October 2nd, Phase 2, Oxford City Centre

 Stimmen - On The Threshold (Phase 2)

A strange contraption visits the streets of Oxford 

September 28th , The Old Boot Factory,102-104  St Mary's Road, Cowley, Oxford


‘Stimmung 128’


The German word "Stimmung" {sshtimmung} has several meanings, including "tuning" and "mood". The word is the noun formed from the verb "stimmen", which means "to harmonize, to be correct", and related to "Stimme" (voice). The primary sense of the title "implies not only the outward tuning of voices or instruments, but also the inward tuning of one's soul" (Hillier 2007, 4).
 'Stimmung 128' is a research project using found objects and recycled materials, which seeks to introduce the public to the powerful world of harmonics and the mystery of human sound as a means to re-tune or realign us with the universe thus empowering ourselves to respond more appropriately to the present challenging situation all over the world. Participants will be invited into a space through the use of visual and acoustic devices and encouraged to engage with the artist in a potentially transformative musical, sonic and dialogical process.




October 2nd, Art Jericho Gallery

‘Quint-essence’ is a music improvisation for Solo Guitar and Vox Humana exploring the space that is the interval of the fifth.

'Imerge’  is a vocal improvisation dissolving boundaries in correspondence with electrical appliances 


for more info go to www.beuysian.blogspot.com/