Thu 22 May 19:00
Waterside 3 Event Space, Watershed
This is a free event, but you still need to book tickets.
What will our landscape sound like in the future?
The first in a series of public talks called Stories We Tell, this event celebrates the opening of Only Expansion, a visceral and poetic audio walk that reflects on what it means to live on a planet in crisis.
Bringing together Duncan Speakman, the creator of Only Expansion, and Mel Evans, a writer, activist and artist who is the Greenpeace UK climate team lead, and also a part of Liberate Tate the art activist collective. Mel's book Artwash: Big Oil and the Arts (Pluto Press, 2015) examines the function and impact of oil sponsorship.
With Undershed curator Amy Rose, they will discuss Only Expansion, how artistic experiences can help us grapple with the multiple challenges of now – and the meeting point between art, activism, story telling and the imagination.
About Duncan Speakman
The maker of Only Expansion and an artist based at the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol. He is best known for creating sonic experiences that engage audiences in uncontrolled public and private space, including installations on trains in Guangzhou, loudspeaker symphonies in New Zealand, audio walks in Saitama, and sound installations in Porto; he has also recently developed a number of hybrid print/digital experiments. From 2010 - 2015 he was co-director of the artists collective circumstance with Sarah Anderson, Emilie Grenier and Tom Abba. His current research is focused on the potential of sound in futures research.
About Mel Evans
A writer, activist, and artist - Mel is Greenpeace UK climate team leader, and a part of Liberate Tate, the art-activist collective which spent six years making unsanctioned performance interventions inside Tate galleries to successfully end BP sponsorship of Tate in 2016. Her book Artwash: Big Oil and the Arts (Pluto Press, 2015) examines the function and impact of oil sponsorship. Her play Oil City was produced by Platform and presented as part of the Two Degrees Festival in 2013. Mel is interested in blending art and activism to create new political possibilities, and sees participatory performance interventions as a radical alternative to traditional protest. She has been involved in climate activism since 2005.
The talk will be followed by an audience Q&A.