On Friday the 21st September we were treated to a very special Lunchtime Talk from the recipients of Watershed’s Studio Residencies. This year our Artists in Residence are two duos; Artists Ben Sadler and Phil Duckworth of Juneau Projects and a new collaboration between Timothy X Atack and MrUnderwood.

Timothy X Atack and MrUnderwood

Timothy X Atack and MrUnderwood opened the talk by explaining their backgrounds, Tim as writer, performer and composer and Mr Underwood as a sound artist and instrument designer. They explained that they were a collaboration put together through Watershed due to the similarities in their proposed projects.

Both artists share an interest in ambient sound, and the use of sound design to transpose or enhance a sense of location. Both also share a passion for the playing of instruments and the accessibility of such to the widest possible variety of participants. Tim’s narrative focus is strongly influenced by the emotive properties of specific technologies (especially the anachronistic analogue kind) and MrUnderwood has a practical love of bending analogue devices to transcend or pervert their original purpose.

During their time in the Studio they will be developing Geiger-Müller Sound System. For the last few years MrUnderwood has been exploring a process called Sonic Graffiti, installing homemade sound modules into the built environment. These units can either create and play back recordings, re-route existing ambient sound, or emit their own self-generated noise, and are operated by anyone who chances upon them. Their use is rarely monitored, and the modules are often victims of their environment; stolen, eroded or otherwise lost.

MrUnderwood and Tim will be investigating how fiction, narrative and storytelling might augment the experiences demonstrated by Sonic Graffiti, and are currently focussing on strategies and aesthetics suggested by ‘sounds of warning’ – alarms, alerts, announcements, themes of danger and decay.

By the end of their residency they hope, at the very least, to have the beginnings of an exciting new instrument to play, with some unlikely and intriguing stories attached to its operation.

Timothy X Atack and MrUnderwood will be blogging about the progress of their research throughout their residency. Keep your eyes peeled on their project page here to see what they are up to. You can read an interview with both artists about their artistic practise and their plans for their residency below:

Meet the New Artists in Residence (Part 1): An Interview with Timothy X Atack and MrUnderwood

Juneau Projects

Working alongside them are artists Ben Sadler and Phil Duckworth of Juneau Projects. During their time in the Studio they will be investigating the artistic possibilities of collaborating with ‘thinking’ machines.

Represented by London’s Ceri Hand Gallery, Juneau Projects' groundbreaking work involves the use of sculpture, sound, music, projection, animation, and installation.

They currently have work in the Tatton Park Biennial and recently presented a solo show at Site Gallery, Sheffield. Their latest projects examine ideas of technology, nature and possible future scenarios, and for this Residency, they will research various Artificial Intelligence entities to discover ways of using their aesthetic suggestions to help create sculptural artwork.

"We are interested in questioning how technology can inform what we make, rather than being just a tool employed in the process. From the chess-playing computer Deep Blue to Cleverbot, the online chatbot program, 'thinking' machines are becoming an important part of our world. For our Residency, we will investigate how we can collaborate with Artificial Intelligence programs, to make new physical artworks. This research will build on our recent project Čapexagon, in which we used robot arm building kits to make abstract landscape paintings." – Juneau Projects

Juneau projects will also be blogging throughout their residency here, and we will be interviewing Juneau projects in the near future, so don’t forget to check on the news section of our website for it.   

Juneau Projects and fellow residents Timothy X Atack and MrUnderwood, are supported by Watershed's Studio Residencies 2012 development programme, find out more here.