This October 2017 we’ve had not one, but two Artist in Residence duos join us in the Studio, both of whom will continue to develop their projects until February 2018. At this extra special Lunchtime Talk, both Action Hero and NOISE Orchestra shared with us their projects and ambitions for the future. Here is Part 1 of the talk.

Five Things I Learned

1. Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse been working together as Action Hero since 2005, creating live performances and installation work varying from very long and short form pieces. Previous works include Slap Talk, a live verbal sparring match using live feeds played back to the audience and Extraordinary Rendition, a multimedia installation. Gemma is interested in using form to bring people together for that particular live moment.

2. Next year in April, Gemma and James will be moving out of their house in Bristol and moving into a motor-home, spending six months driving 20,000 miles through every country in Europe, recording acapella love songs sung by people living in each country along the way. Action Hero began the research phase of Oh Europa earlier this year and during their time at the Studio they want to develop their ideas and explore options for integrating technology into the project. 

3. Action Hero have wanted to make this piece for a long time, they were interested in how to transport these songs, becoming the medium of multiple voices and languages. They will be building this archive of songs in different languages and styles. They will then go to the most Northerly, Southerly, Easterly and Westerly points of the continent to set up beacons that will play these loves songs continuously. Each beacon will be synchronized with the other locations. They likened this process to being the acupuncture of Europe, creating channels of energy between locations through these beacons. 

4. Their initial idea was that you could just walk to a certain point and hear the songs being broadcast, however it turns out you need ‘secret agent’ tech to broadcast only to specific channels. Short wave radio wasn’t an option, as so few people have the means to receive it, so they have been working with creative technologist David Haylock to make a location-based app that acts like a compass towards the beacons. It is only possible to hear these transmissions within a certain radius of the beacons meaning you need to travel to certain locations to hear them. They aim to have a prototype of the beacon to test in January 2018.

5. Although not an overtly political piece, Action Hero felt they had to react against the noisy discourse created from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. They felt arguments quickly became detached from the reality of the situation and that singing is a much more vulnerable yet effective way to express yourself. Action Hero will be working with venues and art centers across Europe to help meet people to collect and archive love songs. Action Hero aren’t limiting voices to European ones as they will include stories of migration and displacement of cultures within Europe. They won’t be limiting themselves to main cities and will be aiming to reach smaller rural locations along the way.

If you're interested in tracking Action Hero's development during their time at the Studio follow their blog.