Date:

28 February - 8 March

Venue:

The Mall, Central Library & Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough town centre

Time:

Various - see individual projects for exact opening times
Guided Tour:
Monday 3 March, 16:00-17:00, starts Blue Café
Artists’ Talks and Reception: Monday 3 March, 17:00 – 19:00, IDI

Cost:

Free

Marcus Coates, Zoë Irvine & People Like Us

On Monday 3rd March
16.00 Now Hear this Walking tour (meet at Blue Café, Middlesbrough)
17.00 Artists’ talks and reception (Hosted by MAP at the Institute of Digital Innovation, Phoenix Building, University of Teesside)

Now Hear This presents three engaging encounters with artists’ audio works in Middlesbrough Town Centre. Part of AV Festival 08, these projects explore and celebrate the theme of broadcast offering a range of surprising and amusing listening experiences.

To download a map of locations click here

Commissions include new sound works by British artists Marcus Coates, Zoë Irvine and People Like Us.

Now Hear This is curated and produced by Forma and is commissioned by AV Festival 08

Marcus Coates

Marcus Coates with Geoff Sample
Grounded

The Mall, Grange Road, Middlesbrough
Open Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat: 9.00 – 17.30,
Thurs: 9.00 – 20.00, Sun: 11.00 – 17.00

Marcus Coates, in collaboration with sound recordist Geoff Sample, broadcasts a series of birdsong recordings in Middlesbrough's main shopping centre, The Mall. Using the existing public address system, Coates’ audio works feature local bird species native to the Tees Estuary and North East England.

Busy shoppers will hear the sounds of large flocks of waders feeding on local mudflats at low tide, alongside the hubbub of species calling and probing each other to keep flocks together and to signal feeding and foraging times. Broadcast at close intervals throughout the day, Coates brings an unexpected soundtrack to this indoor urban environment, drawing some surprising parallels and contrasts between bird life and human behaviour.

Marcus Coates' practice encompasses film, audio work, and performance. He has established a reputation for producing fascinating explorations of the humorous and often dark similarities that exist between human and animal life. Expressing a direct concern with our relationship with nature and the symbolic resonance of animals in a contemporary urban environment, Coates' works present amusing, yet unexpectedly profound reflections upon human nature.

Listen here to excerpts of the work:

Marcus Coates & Geoff Sample Grounded - warblers

Marcus Coates & Geoff Sample Grounded - thrushes

People Like US

People Like Us
Breaking Waves

Daily downloads from Bluetooth hotspot
(24 hour) outside entrance to Bhs, Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough

Pair up with People Like Us for a series of misfiring musical arrangements exploring the entertaining aspects of miscommunication, disharmony, bad connections and missed calls.

Vicki Bennett (aka People Like Us) will produce ten short audio works to be broadcast daily via Bluetooth in Middlesbrough Town Centre. These brief musical compositions explore the humorous side to communication breakdowns in all their varied and surprising forms.

To experience Breaking Waves, take a Bluetooth enabled device (such as a mobile phone) within close proximity of the Bluetooth broadcaster – look out for the poster site situated in front of Bhs on Linthorpe Road, in Middlesbrough's central shopping area. The broadcaster will emit a notification that gives the option to download and listen.

For sixteen years Vicki Bennett has been making CDs, radio and audiovisual multimedia under the name People Like Us. Presented as pre–recorded material and as live performance, Bennett's works animate and recontextualise found footage collages, communicating a witty, dark and often surreal critique of popular culture.

Download free daily tracks here:

Thurs 28 Feb - Hello Hush - 0:51

Fri 29 Feb - Hello I'm Talking - 0:45

Sat 1 March - Hello Sorry It's Alright - 0:42

Sun 2 March - Let Them In - 0:49

Mon 3 March - Please Hold - 0:37

Tues 4 March - Something - 0:22

Wed 5 March - The Telephone Call - 0:45

Thurs 6 March - Uncle Campbell - 0:51

Fri 7 March - Webster Lineman - 0:51

Sat 8 March - Silence - 0:59

DIAL-A-DIVA

Zoë Irvine
DIAL-A-DIVA

Central Library, Victoria Square, Middlesbrough
Open Mon, Tues, Fri: 9.30 to 19.00,
Wed, Thurs, Sat: 9.30 to 17.00

Zoë Irvine presents highlights from the audio archive of
DIAL-A-DIVA, a 24 hour global, telephonic singing event celebrating one of the earliest broadcast technologies, the Theatrophone.

The Theatrophone (or Electrophone as it was sometimes called) was the highlight of the World Exhibition in Paris in 1881 where it connected listeners via telephone to the Paris Opera house and theatres. It remained a popular form of entertainment until the 1920s which saw the rise of radio broadcasting.

In 2005 and 2007, Zoë Irvine’s DIAL-A-DIVA project recreated the Theatrophone experience by allowing listeners to enjoy live musical performances from around the world via a call center and phone lines for a 24 hour period.

Visitors to Middlesbrough Central Library can hear a selection of these recorded performances on listening posts, presented alongside an exhibition of postcards and ephemera reflecting the magical experiences early telecommunications offered.

Zoë Irvine creates sound pieces, broadcasts, participatory projects and publications. Her works often form playful narrative investigations into the industries and cultures of audio broadcast, inspired by early audio technology, broadcasting history and its historic figures.

Listen here to excerpts of the work:

Zoë Irvine - DIAL-A-DIVA - intro

Zoë Irvine - DIAL-A-DIVA - excerpt

Produced by Forma

Guided tour, artists' talks and reception event

Join Forma for a guided tour of Now Hear This projects, followed by talks by the artists and project producers hosted by MAP (Middlesbrough Arts People). Tour begins at Blue Café on Albert Road Middlesbrough at 16:00. Talk and reception at Institute of Digital Innovation, Phoenix Building, University of Teesside begins at 17:00.

Places are free, bookings through AV Festival box office.