A sound and light experience
Power Plant update:The artists are currently planning a UK tour in 2008. Watch this space for more details
Oxford Contemporary Music teamed up with the University of Oxford Botanic Garden to commission 8 artists to transform the Garden at night into an extraordinary world of sound and light. For three nights audiences could explore the garden in the moonlight, take a magical musical and visual journey amongst intriguing constructions and installations around the walled garden, water garden, plants and trees. The project was led by Mark Anderson of artists’ collective Blissbody who has a long history of co-ordinating and creating site specific work in unusual locations. Combining sound, fire, pyrotechnics and light, he created strange, subtle and awe inspiring sonically visual installations. In the weeks preceding the event, he worked with locally and nationally renowned artists including Jony Easterby, Ray Lee, Anne Bean, Bruce Gilchrist, Ulf Mark Pedersen, Kirsten Reynolds, Miche Fabre-Lewin and z’ev to create the Botanic Garden night-time environment.
There were live performances by z’ev using Mark Anderson’s circular saw blade installation suspended from the famous Black Pine (said to be Tolkein’s favourite tree). Ray Lee’s “Hum” was a series of whirling hand-made speakers on tripods amongst the flower beds emitting eerie hums, buzzes and insect sounds. Kirsten Reynolds created a series of installations including a phantom fountain, with the sound but not the operation of the fountain and her gramophones, playing circular saw blades and sections of a tree trunk. Mark Anderson created a number of pieces around the garden, including the pyrophones, a group of horns emitting gas flames which played tunes controlled by a musician and a keyboard.
Power Plant was attended by over 3000 people during the three nights and we were blessed with perfect weather.
Some of the comments we received about Power Plant:
“Best event I’ve been to in Oxford in the last 15 years”
“Absolutely fantastic. Amazing – so simple but so clever – ingenious”
“Magic. I smiled all the way”
“Moving, funny, sensitive – love it”
“A feast of inspiration”
“Beautifully brilliant”
“I was on my way to the pub – thank god for the detour… A wonderful experience”
“Amazingly beautiful, a magical experience. I’ve been twice and wish I’d come every night”
“Stunning – unforgettable”
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