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The sun low in the sky above Easterhouse, an audience at a performance

Shadowed Spaces Easterhouse

Shadowed Spaces Easterhouse

Location: Around and about the old public library in Easterhouse; disinvested in and left to rot by the council but which was shamelessly, hastily and superficially cleaned by them in expectation of our event.

A rendezvous location in a city centre location, a short walk from where the performance will take place. Once gathered we’ll wander down to the spot we think might be interesting. En route or once we get there you’ll be introduced to Denis Wood, our resident psychogeographer, who’ll give you some food for thought before the performances begin. In some towns we’ll move on to a second location for further performances.

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Sean Meehan is an NYC based drummer who has gradually pared down his kit to a single snare. From it he conjures held pitches of astonishing purity by placing cymbals on the drumhead and gently sounding their surfaces, or maybe he conjures his tones via some form of alchemy; god knows as it certainly doesn’t sound anything like a snare drum. This might sound highly technical I guess, and it is; but more importantly, I think Sean’s work is some of the most radical and beautiful music you could experience: brave, spartan, a slow motion ritual of intensity and concentration.

Tamio Shiraishi is a Japanese sax player, now based in NYC. An original member of Keiji Haino’s ferocious Fushitsusha project, where he played drums and synth, Shiraishi’s drift towards the sax sits way outside most free or avant garde conceptions; instead of loud iron lung blasts of noise, Tamio bites down hard and coaxes tones that resemble the internal head-rush of breath on a cold morning, the far off gurgling of streams, or piercing bird calls, that seem to emanate from between your ears. Tamio has often played in unusual outdoor locations, in Berlin and Tokyo as well as in the USA.

Ikuro Takahashi might be a familiar name to some for his role as drummer/percussionist with many of the most notable Japanese underground acts of the past 25 years (High Rise, Kosokuya, Fushitsusha, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, LSD March to name but a few). On Domori to Sanshu he presents another look into his long running work with electronics. The two tracks on the CD consist of a live performance for oscillators and percussion followed by a computer composition in which Takahashi uses techniques of layering, looping and stretching sources to create immersive fields of sound. The live piece adds some space defining percussion for a brief temporal anchor before enveloping you once again in the high end chatter of up to 100 tiny oscillators. The computer piece by contrast offers no such reference points, instead leaving the listener submerged in a low end organic rumble that manages by turns to be both soothing and disorienting.

Denis Wood is a geographer and map theoretician. His early work was in psycho-geography as developed by geographers and city planners in New England in the 1960s. His path-breaking dissertation was called I Don’t Want To, But I Will (1973). It was during this time that he wrote the papers “Shadowed Spaces” and “In Defense of Indefensible Space.” Later he taught at the College of Design at North Carolina State University and at Duke University. He’s now best known for The Power of Maps which demystified maps (1992); Home Rules, about culture, family, and living rooms (1994); Five Billion Years of Global Change (2004); Seeing Through Maps (2001, 2006); and Making Maps (2005).

Two members of the audience were given audio recorders with a set of binaural microphones hacked into a set of headphones to record their experience of the event. In Easterhouse, thanks to Ling and Martin for doing this; hear their recordings below.

Documentation

20 images, 2 audio
Recorded by Ling
Download
Copyright © 2007
Recorded by Martin
Download
Copyright © 2007
Ikuru Takehashi crouching near a metal door, preparing small devices

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan sitting on the ground with snare and cymbals

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

An audience assembled around Denis Wood speaking in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi playing a snare with a wine glass and water near a metal door

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan surrounded by audience in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi playing a snare at the bass of a metal door

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan holding a cymbal against a snare near a metal door, red hat

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio Shiraishi playing saxophone next to a wall with a series of metal panels

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio Shiraishi playing saxophone next to a wall with a series of metal panels

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio with saxophone and graffito in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Audience assembled for performance in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Dusk with an audience and a bush

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan playing a snare on the ground in the evening

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi performing in a back corner of Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi hanging devices on mic stands near graffitied doors

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio Shiraishi playing saxophone behind a metal fence

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio standing alone near a fence holding a saxophone

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio with saxophone dwarfed by concrete structures and sunset

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi performing in a back corner of Easterhouse at dusk

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Easterhouse in late evening with a departing audience

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi crouching near a metal door, preparing small devices

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan sitting on the ground with snare and cymbals

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

An audience assembled around Denis Wood speaking in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi playing a snare with a wine glass and water near a metal door

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan surrounded by audience in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi playing a snare at the bass of a metal door

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan holding a cymbal against a snare near a metal door, red hat

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio Shiraishi playing saxophone next to a wall with a series of metal panels

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio Shiraishi playing saxophone next to a wall with a series of metal panels

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio with saxophone and graffito in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Audience assembled for performance in Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Dusk with an audience and a bush

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Sean Meehan playing a snare on the ground in the evening

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi performing in a back corner of Easterhouse

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi hanging devices on mic stands near graffitied doors

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio Shiraishi playing saxophone behind a metal fence

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio standing alone near a fence holding a saxophone

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Tamio with saxophone dwarfed by concrete structures and sunset

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ikuru Takehashi performing in a back corner of Easterhouse at dusk

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Easterhouse in late evening with a departing audience

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

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