ICA Self-Publishers' Fair, ASP 3
8 July 2017
https://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/artist-self-publishers-fair-asp
The third Artist Self-Publishers' (ASP) Fair, featuring over 50 UK and international independent artist self-publishers who will come together for a one-day fair.
Graphics Interchange Format
Focalpoint Gallery
21 July – 17 October 2015
Gif, Rachel Cattle and Steve Richards
http://www.focalpoint.org.uk/exhibition
21 July – 17 October 2015
Gif, Rachel Cattle and Steve Richards
http://www.focalpoint.org.uk/exhibition
ICA Self-Publishers' Fair (ASP)
12 Sep 2015
https://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/artist-self-publishers-fair-asp
The inaugural Artist Self-Publishers' (ASP) Fair, featuring over 50 UK and international independent artist self-publishers who will come together for a one-day fair.
Ritual Mnemonics, a 12" vinyl record (with 4 cover variations), consisting of excerpts from the sound archive of The Library Of Aeronautics.
Side 1, track i: Hibiscus Flower / Coded Radio Transmission
Excerpts from Cocteau's Orphee(1950) and Le Testament d'Orphee(1960)
The presence of the hibiscus in Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphee(1960) is coincidental to both the sound of a triad of notes and the sudden emergence of a protagonist from what seems to be a kind of interdimensional portal or void. Taken as a musical reference to the flatted fifth interval/tritone substitution, the so-called 'diabolus in musica', represents the excluded and/or inharmonious aspect that is hidden or marginalised and which can only be witnessed during a Faustian-type pact. The tritone accompanying the hibiscus may also be considered as symbolising a rupture of prescribed codes and the possibility of multiple alternative tunings or improvisatonal modes via a dissonant chord or interval. (The triad of notes is recorded using a Cristal Baschet).
A radio transmission heard in Cocteau's Orphee(1950), thought to be modelled on transmissions generated by British and French Resistance agents during World War Two, exemplifies the witnessing of an event originating from outside of existing parameters, seemingly displaced but representing an inconsisternt mutliplicity that lies beneath the particular existing& order:Where could they be coming from? No other station broadcasts them. I feel certain they are addressed to me personally.
Side 1, track ii: Tritones: Descending / Ascending Octaves
Example, played on a recorder, of a tritone paradox, an auditory illusion in which a sequentialy played pair of Shepard tones separated by an interval of a tritone, or half octave, is heard as ascending by some people and as descending by others. (The tritone paradox was first proposed by Roger Shepard and demonstrated empirically by psychology of music researcher Diana Deutsch in 1986).
The auditory illusion of descending / ascending octaves references exercises performed in order to divide attention and so achieve the possibility of an increased observational perspective. Such exercises, advocated by P.D. Ouspensky (1878-1947), ultimately reference the ars memorativa of Giordano Bruno and the& Pythagorean tuning system in order to further develop mnemotechnics.
Side 2, track i: It Goes Something Like This
Live performance introductions and repetitions recorded between 1954-56 by Elvis Presley. The subject is thought to be under post-hypnotic suggestion and in a heightened emotional state. Sleeve notes& by The Library Of Aeronautics state that the repetition of the introductory phrase it goes something like this may be used to remind the listener of& their own subective state of multiplicity.
Side 2, track ii: I Forgot to Remember to Forget
Audio collage examining live performance from 1955 by Elvis Presley, where subject is discernibly under post-hypnotic suggestion and where crowd reaction is indicative of hypnotic transference. An implication of this sound piece is that audience/listener and performer are exhorted to remember multiplicity but remain trapped in repetitive performance of the social distinctions and alienation between the singular performer and audience.
Newspaper of The Library Of Aeronautics containing archive images and publication that considers the history of the tritone and its use.
Five Years Gallery. How To Write: Reading Groups
17 May 2015
Presented by the Library Of Aeronautics.
Part 1. The Freres d'Heliopolis: a group of French aviators and alchemists in search of the symbolic power of flight and of Fulcanelli's Golden Fleece via the Language of the Birds.
Part 2. Rocket engineer and chemist at JPL Caltech, Marvel Whiteside John Parsons (1914-1952), invoked gods of the air while mastering the technical jargon necessary for pioneering space rocketry.
The Language Of The Birds:
All words are cognates with a common etymological origin.
Golden winged,
Silver winged
Winged with
flashing flame,
Such a flight of birds
I saw,
Birds without a name:
Singing songs in
their own tongue
(Song of songs) they
came.
Paradise: In a Symbol
Christina Georgina Rossetti
Higher conciousness speaks though the machine using an entirely unanticipated language, the dispassionate language of unexpected, startling truth. J. de Lesseps
…through a conscious attempt to misunderstand, understanding is gained...the “language of unsaying” … characterized by the presence of an absence, the trace of other things it can mean.
An understanding of the 'holographic' Green Language, the Language of the Birds, a punning, multi-lingual word play is investigated to reveal unusual and, meaningful associations between seemingly unrelated ideas. Its most famous C20th exponent, the author known as Fulcanelli, claims that in our day this is the natural language of the outsiders, the outlaws and heretics at the fringes of society.
Fulcanelli's two books, Mystery Of The Cathedrals; Dwellings Of The Philosophers, published after his disappearance in 1926 emphasize a phonetic cabala of argot, cant or slang. which he links to the Argonauts, of the quest for the Golden Fleece, insisting that the crew of the Argo spoke the Green Language. He also links this idea to the troubadour poet Villon whose brotherhood of thieves were the same nautes, or sailors, as the Argonauts.
The Freres d'Heliopolis, consisting of the Lesseps family of aviators and their salon of inventors and artists formed around the symbol of the Fulcanelli (weaponsmith of the Sun), continuing an underground network of hermetic ideas while laying claim to the development of early flight. Their double identities and double entendres& seem to have inspired Jack Parsons, who wrote Freedom is A Double Edged Sword under the magickal pseudonym Fra Belarion (www.bibliotecapleyades.net/bb/babalon210.htm) and who became an important member of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Aerojet Engineering Corporation. Parsons associated with the sci fi literary scene of the late 1940s and is thought to have been the inspiration for the comicbook character Captain Marvel, who would utter the words Shazam when transforming from his mundane identity to that of superhero.
(Parsons& married Marjorie Cameron, who would later act in the films of Kenneth Anger, before he disappeared, presumed  killed, after an explosion at his home in 1952).
Video: The Language Of The Birds
VOYAGER VOYANT…SEER
VOYOUS…THUGS
Presented by the Library Of Aeronautics.
Part 1. The Freres d'Heliopolis: a group of French aviators and alchemists in search of the symbolic power of flight and of Fulcanelli's Golden Fleece via the Language of the Birds.
Part 2. Rocket engineer and chemist at JPL Caltech, Marvel Whiteside John Parsons (1914-1952), invoked gods of the air while mastering the technical jargon necessary for pioneering space rocketry.
The Language Of The Birds:
All words are cognates with a common etymological origin.
Golden winged,
Silver winged
Winged with
flashing flame,
Such a flight of birds
I saw,
Birds without a name:
Singing songs in
their own tongue
(Song of songs) they
came.
Paradise: In a Symbol
Christina Georgina Rossetti
Higher conciousness speaks though the machine using an entirely unanticipated language, the dispassionate language of unexpected, startling truth. J. de Lesseps
…through a conscious attempt to misunderstand, understanding is gained...the “language of unsaying” … characterized by the presence of an absence, the trace of other things it can mean.
An understanding of the 'holographic' Green Language, the Language of the Birds, a punning, multi-lingual word play is investigated to reveal unusual and, meaningful associations between seemingly unrelated ideas. Its most famous C20th exponent, the author known as Fulcanelli, claims that in our day this is the natural language of the outsiders, the outlaws and heretics at the fringes of society.
Fulcanelli's two books, Mystery Of The Cathedrals; Dwellings Of The Philosophers, published after his disappearance in 1926 emphasize a phonetic cabala of argot, cant or slang. which he links to the Argonauts, of the quest for the Golden Fleece, insisting that the crew of the Argo spoke the Green Language. He also links this idea to the troubadour poet Villon whose brotherhood of thieves were the same nautes, or sailors, as the Argonauts.
The Freres d'Heliopolis, consisting of the Lesseps family of aviators and their salon of inventors and artists formed around the symbol of the Fulcanelli (weaponsmith of the Sun), continuing an underground network of hermetic ideas while laying claim to the development of early flight. Their double identities and double entendres& seem to have inspired Jack Parsons, who wrote Freedom is A Double Edged Sword under the magickal pseudonym Fra Belarion (www.bibliotecapleyades.net/bb/babalon210.htm) and who became an important member of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Aerojet Engineering Corporation. Parsons associated with the sci fi literary scene of the late 1940s and is thought to have been the inspiration for the comicbook character Captain Marvel, who would utter the words Shazam when transforming from his mundane identity to that of superhero.
(Parsons& married Marjorie Cameron, who would later act in the films of Kenneth Anger, before he disappeared, presumed  killed, after an explosion at his home in 1952).
Video: The Language Of The Birds
VOYAGER VOYANT…SEER
VOYOUS…THUGS
VOLER…FLY/STEAL
VOLEUR…THIEF
VOLANT…FLYING
VOILE…TO SAIL
LANGUE…TONGUE
JARGON
ARGENT…SILVER
ARGO
ARGOT…SLANG
ARGONAUT
ARGOTIER…STREET THIEF
AVION…PLANE
AVIAIRE…AVIAN/BIRD
AVIATEUR
NAUTE…ME
NAVIRE…VESSEL
NAVIGEUR…NAVIGATE
CABALLUS…HORSE
CABALEIRO…HORSEMAN
CABALE
TROBAR…TO INVENT/MEET
D'OR…GOLD
Andor Gallery: FOAM
Artists’ record project curated by Mat Jenner, 2014
One off 12" black dub plate record. Distinct artist labels on A and B sides. Presented within black inner and outer sleeves. Displayed and accessed within the record archive.
Selected artists have been asked to respond to these parameters in the form of a one-off record for insertion into the collective body of the archive.
Side A performed by Rachel Cattle. Side B performed by Steve Richards.
Side B: Man cannot Do, (04:40)
Excerpts collaged from various writings on ‘crooked tunes’ and considering the individual's inability to access reality outside of the existing simulacrum. The Do refers both to the ability to act and the first musical note of the octave. The excerpts further consider the notion of false consciousness, as the inability to act authentically does not prevent the individual from believing in doing even when merely existing as a note being the property of an already existing and repeating octave. As Man Cannot Do within the repetition of the simulacrum, a not-doing or undoing may occur.
One off 12" black dub plate record. Distinct artist labels on A and B sides. Presented within black inner and outer sleeves. Displayed and accessed within the record archive.
Selected artists have been asked to respond to these parameters in the form of a one-off record for insertion into the collective body of the archive.
Side A performed by Rachel Cattle. Side B performed by Steve Richards.
Side B: Man cannot Do, (04:40)
Excerpts collaged from various writings on ‘crooked tunes’ and considering the individual's inability to access reality outside of the existing simulacrum. The Do refers both to the ability to act and the first musical note of the octave. The excerpts further consider the notion of false consciousness, as the inability to act authentically does not prevent the individual from believing in doing even when merely existing as a note being the property of an already existing and repeating octave. As Man Cannot Do within the repetition of the simulacrum, a not-doing or undoing may occur.
GamingGaming
International group show with 18 Danish and British artists exhibiting new artworks.
Curated by Stine Ljungdalh and Wendy Plovmand, New Shelter Plan, Copenhagen,
2014
GamingGaming serves as an opportunity for artists to investigate and exchange within the creative process in relation to the idea of “Game of Chance”.
Set of publications based around research that the debated identity of the author and alchemist known as Fulcanelli (1920s) was connected to the construction and development of early aircraft.
Early publications from the Library of Aeronautics contain additional material about the symbolism of Fulcanelli, here treated as a position shared, by members of the so called Brotherhood of Heliopolis and as
a initiatory stage existing within a broader concept of Hermeticism. Publications examine historical authorship and structures of communal narratives and highlight the notion of an embedded allegorical code that invites the reader to
participate in the creation of the text – ‘the adoration of the demiurge'. This ritual is detailed as an event or flight within which the Demiurge is witnessed, as a marginalised creative mode.
Project, Maureen Paley. Collaboration with Rachel Cattle
A group exhibition featuring Salvatore Arancio, Rachel Cattle & Steve Richards and James Pyman, 2014.
This project brings together drawing, etching, sound and video works, as well as sculpture. Each artist explores the natural world hinting towards the super-natural and inexplicable. The works also examine and quote from popular culture, fanzines and literature creating an often ambiguous rendering of their melancholic inner visions.
Station to Station '..a session of pure play. Ill-dubbed percussion emerges from twigs, conkers, railings; a line is traced around a leaf to the sound of radio waves tearing through space. Maureen Paley is one of contemporary art's primary tastemakers, and this exhibition acts as an intriguing set of synopses.’ Matilda Bathurst This Is Tomorrow
January 2014
This show contained retrospective assortment of collaborative work done with Rachel Cattle, early comic books and related ephemera plus two videos: Cosmographia and Station to Station.
This project brings together drawing, etching, sound and video works, as well as sculpture. Each artist explores the natural world hinting towards the super-natural and inexplicable. The works also examine and quote from popular culture, fanzines and literature creating an often ambiguous rendering of their melancholic inner visions.
Station to Station '..a session of pure play. Ill-dubbed percussion emerges from twigs, conkers, railings; a line is traced around a leaf to the sound of radio waves tearing through space. Maureen Paley is one of contemporary art's primary tastemakers, and this exhibition acts as an intriguing set of synopses.’ Matilda Bathurst This Is Tomorrow
January 2014
This show contained retrospective assortment of collaborative work done with Rachel Cattle, early comic books and related ephemera plus two videos: Cosmographia and Station to Station.
Station to Station
3 minute video in collaboration with Rachel Cattle, 2013
“A space convoy is on a strange voyage, carrying a rare cargo, the forests, the plants, the growing things doomed to extinction on earth...” (Silent Running,1972)
Station To Station links ideas about sound and its creative possibilities, using peripheral content transmitted via radio and through percussion instruments, “believed to be the oldest form of music making”. Twigs, conkers and other ‘magical’ objects are the receivers.
“Rock 'n roll station is a station where we can do what we want to do.... Jack's bicycle is music...Everything is possible.... Listening, listening to an outlaw rock‘n’roll station...
What a strange story...” Vince Taylor
“What I’m trying to do is give you something you can use and apply, experiments you can perform...” William Burroughs.
“A space convoy is on a strange voyage, carrying a rare cargo, the forests, the plants, the growing things doomed to extinction on earth...” (Silent Running,1972)
Station To Station links ideas about sound and its creative possibilities, using peripheral content transmitted via radio and through percussion instruments, “believed to be the oldest form of music making”. Twigs, conkers and other ‘magical’ objects are the receivers.
“Rock 'n roll station is a station where we can do what we want to do.... Jack's bicycle is music...Everything is possible.... Listening, listening to an outlaw rock‘n’roll station...
What a strange story...” Vince Taylor
“What I’m trying to do is give you something you can use and apply, experiments you can perform...” William Burroughs.
Ohhh. 3 minute video. (In collaboration with Rachel Cattle)
Animation of/interaction with two books on sound and music with a soundtrack that uses overlapping voice and the recorder.
X Marks the Bokship
Launch of Groove Script video and publication by Rachel Cattle & Steve Richards
Published by AND Publishing, 2013
Published by AND Publishing, 2013
Groove Script takes its title from an article written by Moholy-Nagy in 1923 entitled New Forms In Music: Potentialities Of The Phonograph. In the article he posits the idea of a groove script alphabet...that the phonograph be transformed from an instrument of reproduction into one of production; this will cause the sound phenomenon itself to be created on the record, which carried no prior acoustic message, by the incision of groove-script lines as required.
The film and publication take on this notion of potentiality to explore the ‘groove-script’ and the processes that might enliven and radicalize ideas and possibilities of the independent artist. Voices include Poly Styrene, Dennis Potter, Ken Loach, Townes Van Zandt and Beryl Ritchie, the only female cutting engineer in the music industry during the 1970’s. Images are a collection of found photographs once belonging to an amateur photography enthusiast, hand developed in a dark-room. The photocopier, light from a super-eight projector, slide cases and string get the job of bringing the groove-script to life – one of continual improvisation, remembering and re-enlivening past changes to destabilize the present.
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