NATIONAL AV FESTIVAL COMES TO SUNNISIDE
05/03/2010
A film projection celebrating the place that first inspired the invention of the light bulb is being screened in Sunderland city centre as part of next month’s international AV Festival.
International digital artists SDNA will be exploring the birth and impending extinction of the light bulb in their interactive audio-visual piece – Incandescent - which will take place in the regeneration area of Sunniside.
The projections will run from 5pm to 7pm every day from Friday 5 March to Sunday 14 March. SDNA, whose project is supported by Sunniside Partnership, were also one of the highlights of the city’s Shine Festival earlier in the year.
Incandescent will be installed in the Athenaeum, above the Pilgrim Pub in Fawcett Street, and will link with lighting installations across the centre of Sunderland. In this building in 1846, Joseph Swan attended a lecture by physicist W Richardson that inspired him to pursue his invention of the light bulb.
Director Valentina Floris, said: “The incandescent light bulb has become the first to fall in the politicization of energy efficiency and 'the war on global warming'. After its short 130 years of existence, it will no longer be tolerated within Europe, Canada, and soon the United States.”
SDNA use digital video, electronic music and theatrical performance to produce unique audio-visual art forms, from installation and performance to interactive, architectural, large scale digital projections.
Valentina added: “The installation we have created for AV consists of 100, 100-watt light bulbs forming a giant pulsating creature. The creature attempts to defend a fragile cargo at its heart by emitting sequences of light in response to the visitor’s movement. If provoked a dramatic event unfolds and the moment is captured and then projected onto the walls in a sequence with those previously recorded.”
Ben Hall, director of Sunniside Partnership, said SDNA’s work helped draw attention to the Sunniside area, which is currently undergoing a £130 million regeneration. Mr Hall added: “We are delighted that SDNA will be showcasing some of their work at this prestigious, international festival. It’s a great opportunity to show off Sunniside and some of the wonderful sights that are here as well as giving people a spectacular visual display.”
Since 2003 SDNA have worked all over the world developing and presenting digital art and theatrical productions for museums, fashion labels, city councils, musicians and many more. Previous projects have taken place in Russia and Tahiti as well as in prestigious London venues such as the V & A Museum, the ICA, the Roundhouse and the Whitechapel Gallery.
For more information visit
www.sdna.tv
Sunniside Event Information:
SDNA: Incandescent
Pilgrim Pub, Fawcett Street, Sunniside, Sunderland
Friday 5 – Sunday 14 March
5 – 7pm FREE
AV Late & Live: Tue 9 March, 6-8pm
Incandescent is an exploration of the incandescent light bulb, from its birth 130 years ago to its impending extinction. This new interactive audio-visual work by digital artists’ collective SDNA is installed in the Pilgrim Pub, once part of the Athenaeum, and will link with lighting installations across the centre of Sunderland. In this building in 1846, Joseph Swan attended a lecture by physicist W Richardson that inspired him to invent the light bulb.
Supported by Sunniside Partnership, One North East, Sunderland City Council, Sunderland
arc
and HCA.
Bill Fontana: - Wind Phase
thePlace, Athenaeum Street, Sunniside, Sunderland
Fri 5 March – Mon 29 March
Mon – Fri 10am – 5pm
AV Late & Live: Tue 9 March, 6-8pm
Bill Fontana is internationally known for his pioneering experiments in sound. His work explores the acoustic energy around us, using the physical environment as a vibrant source of musical information. He has realised many sound sculptures that explore the hidden sounds of architecture, including the inner workings of the iconic Big Ben and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. Sunniside Partnership present Fontana’s work Wind Phase, a sound and video sculpture inspired by a landscape punctuated by wind turbines.
One of the recordings is taken at Chelker Reservoir, located just outside Skipton. There are four, old two-bladed wind turbines mounted on a hill above the reservoir and only one of them is operational now. Further recordings have recently been made at Blyth north pier.
There will be a video projection to support the sound installation.
Supported by Sunniside Partnership, One North East, Sunderland City Council, Sunderland
arc
and HCA
Bill Fontana is an American composer and artist who has developed a global reputation for his pioneering experiments in sound. Since the early 1970s Bill has used sound to interact with and transform people’s perceptions of visual and architectural spaces.
www.resoundings.org
Notes to editors:
AV FESTIVAL 10
International Festival of Electronic Arts
(5-14 March 2010)
www.avfestival.co.uk
The North East based biennial AV Festival is one of the UK’s largest international festivals of electronic arts. It returns to Sunderland, NewcastleGateshead and Middlesbrough this year (5-14 March), presenting a diverse programme of work including 24 exhibitions, 20 performances, 10 screenings, 14 talks, 4 club nights and 3 symposia, by over 100 visual artists, musicians and filmmakers, and will include 15 World Premieres of new AV Festival commissions.
The theme of this year’s Festival is ‘energy’ and all the works in the Festival respond to this idea in some way ranging from sound, light and mechanical energy, to the spiritual and human.
AV Festival 10 is organised by Audio Visual Arts North East, an independent charitable company. AV Festival 10 forms part of North-East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events developed by culture10.
AV Festival 10 is supported by: One North East, Arts Council England North East, Northern
Film & Media, UK Film Council, Middlesbrough Council, Sunderland City Council, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Big Lottery Fund, The Wellcome Trust, Codeworks, PRS Foundation for Music, Sasakawa Foundation, Office for Contemporary Art Norway, The Sir James Knott Trust, William Leech, Go North East, and the Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust.
Sunniside Partnership
The Sunniside Partnership was established in 2003 to oversee the regeneration of the Sunniside area. The Partnership works in conjunction with regeneration company Sunderland arc and is supported by Sunderland City Council, the UK’s national regeneration agency the Homes and Communities Agency and the regional development agency One North East. Sunniside Partnership has already attracted over £100m of its £130m investment target.
www.sunnisidepartnership.co.uk
Sunniside
Sunniside is a prominent, tight knit, urban area in the eastern part of the city centre, containing many historic buildings. It is a crucial part of Sunderland city centre and has played a key role in Sunderland’s commercial and cultural life over centuries. Great progress has already been made towards restoring the area to its former glory, with new public space, offices, stylish homes, artist’s studios as well as niche shops, bars and restaurants, helping to establish Sunniside as a fashionable and thriving quarter of the city.
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