Edward George- Edward is a visual and sound artist, writer, director and producer. He co-founded the multi-media arts group Flow Motion with Anna Piva in 1996 and their sound art performances have taken place at the Lilian Baylis Theatre, and the Science Museum Dana Centre in London as well as other international destinations. Edward was Artistic Associate for the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in 2010 and is currently working on a collaborative on-line archival project exploring the theme of the Promised Land.
Founded in London in 1996, Flow Motion are multi media artists and musicians Anna Piva and Edward George.
Flow Motion's installations, audio art, performance presentations and web based projects have been exhibited and performed internationally - at the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Pompidou Centre, the International Institute for Visual Arts, the Science Museum Dana Centre, the Steirischer Herbst Arts Festival in Austria and Star City's historic Cosmonaut's Club in Russia.
In
October 2001 Edward George and Anna Piva were given the unique opportunity to
explore sensory and physical spaces in weightlessness when invited to
participate in the Arts Catalyst’s ‘microgravity interdisciplinary research’
(M.I.R) project realised on a parabolic flight departing from the Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Centre, Star City in Russia. The project with which they
applied was ‘Kosmos in Blue’, named after a composition by Sun Ra.
For George, the experience proved thrilling, yet strangely familiar. He explains how in a dream the act of flying is tied into a structured narrative that “provides the gravitational ballast” and thus makes it seem less terrifying. In zero gravity, however, the floating is ‘uncontrolled’ and the environment unknown. To George it felt like “being less like Clark Kent and more like Homer Simpson because everything that you knew about the world was suddenly wrong; it is like being a child again.”
Piva likens the experience of floating in zero gravity to a foetus suspended in the womb, while simultaneously she was strongly aware of the world of science and technology existing parallel to this protected state. Tai Chi and meditation had mentally prepared her for the quick alterations between zero gravity and double gravity characteristic to parabolic flight: “In Tai Chi you create a physical space in which gravity and anti-gravity are working; you are close to the ground but have the impression of floating.”
In hindsight, Piva admits that the parabolic flight does not seem like a viable way for experiencing and finally understanding the cosmos: “I was happy to return to music as a way to expansion.” George adds that “if you spend enough time in sonic space, you feel as though you have been in zero gravity before.” He makes reference to a lineage of musicians, like Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Underground Resistance and Rhythm & Sound, who created a sense of Space with their music.
Piva made recordings during the parabolic flight. Sound was an important component of the flight itself, the alteration between zero gravity and double gravity giving it a sense of time. “You heard the sound of the plane, not of space itself,” Piva explains. It was the sound of humans in a machine labouring to achieve moments of weightlessness. The plane was crowded and the sound of people and engines loud and overpowering.
For Piva a big part of the musical process “involves listening to machines, not so much composing, but editing data and then allowing the machine to transform the data.” They are both composers and receptors of something that is being composed live in front of them.
George describes their work as ‘process based’: “we shape sounds, we mould spaces into sounds and make sound pictures.” He adds that the experience of floating in zero gravity has enabled them to erode and dissolve the boundary separating inside from outside in their music: “Once you have got the anchor of the gravitational pull away from you, it feels as though you are neither inside nor outside of something, but curiously a bit of both.”
For George, the experience proved thrilling, yet strangely familiar. He explains how in a dream the act of flying is tied into a structured narrative that “provides the gravitational ballast” and thus makes it seem less terrifying. In zero gravity, however, the floating is ‘uncontrolled’ and the environment unknown. To George it felt like “being less like Clark Kent and more like Homer Simpson because everything that you knew about the world was suddenly wrong; it is like being a child again.”
Piva likens the experience of floating in zero gravity to a foetus suspended in the womb, while simultaneously she was strongly aware of the world of science and technology existing parallel to this protected state. Tai Chi and meditation had mentally prepared her for the quick alterations between zero gravity and double gravity characteristic to parabolic flight: “In Tai Chi you create a physical space in which gravity and anti-gravity are working; you are close to the ground but have the impression of floating.”
In hindsight, Piva admits that the parabolic flight does not seem like a viable way for experiencing and finally understanding the cosmos: “I was happy to return to music as a way to expansion.” George adds that “if you spend enough time in sonic space, you feel as though you have been in zero gravity before.” He makes reference to a lineage of musicians, like Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Underground Resistance and Rhythm & Sound, who created a sense of Space with their music.
Piva made recordings during the parabolic flight. Sound was an important component of the flight itself, the alteration between zero gravity and double gravity giving it a sense of time. “You heard the sound of the plane, not of space itself,” Piva explains. It was the sound of humans in a machine labouring to achieve moments of weightlessness. The plane was crowded and the sound of people and engines loud and overpowering.
For Piva a big part of the musical process “involves listening to machines, not so much composing, but editing data and then allowing the machine to transform the data.” They are both composers and receptors of something that is being composed live in front of them.
George describes their work as ‘process based’: “we shape sounds, we mould spaces into sounds and make sound pictures.” He adds that the experience of floating in zero gravity has enabled them to erode and dissolve the boundary separating inside from outside in their music: “Once you have got the anchor of the gravitational pull away from you, it feels as though you are neither inside nor outside of something, but curiously a bit of both.”
As you begin to here the sounds in the beginning its almost as it you are watching a scary film, knowing that something might jump out the screen it matches the name of Darker matter. Its as if someone is creeping behind you with footsteps. That feeling when your left in the house and the tap is running and you expect someone to be behind you. The ending is not as great as the beginning it just ends smoothly with the sounds fadding.
Working with these artists was useful as it was good to get out of the learning environment and explore more opportunities that can be done with art. For example, Dan helped us to convey sound through the windows, using T.V’s and CCTV. Sue helped us with the performance side of it, of how we would convey ‘our’ archives. The artist also taught as valuable lesson to teach, for example, Eddie who was more rounded and was experienced in both fields, working with sound and performances. His work now, linked in with ours as he was archiving a project called promised lands that related to the Bible references.
1 comment:
Hi Jane,
Good start but you need to develop your artists analysis more. It needs to be much more indepth with links to relevent sites and examples of the artists work. You also need to make clear links to the development of your own ideas.
Go for it!
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