As part of Maker Faire, ScienceFest and AV Festival 10 present a weekend of events marking the North East’s contribution to scientific discovery and technological innovation.
Artificiel: condemned_bulbes
Great Hall, Discovery Museum
To celebrate the invention of the incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan, dozens of oversized, light bulbs will hang in the blacked-out Great Hall. As electricity passes through a special dimmer, the bulb coils come to life and become audible. The result is a spectacular electric chorus and flashing light display by Montreal-based artificial (Alexandre Burton, Jimmy Lakatos and Julien Roy).
Coal Fired Computers
During the same weekend AV Festival 10 presents a new work by leading UK media artists Harwood and Yokokoji (YoHa). A coal-fired boiler powers a network of computers exploring the relationships between power, art and media.
Artificiel: Meet the Makers
Sat 13 March only
2.30–3.30pm
An opportunity to meet artists Alexandre Burton and Julien Roy from artificiel who will explain how their installation condemned bulbs works: plus a demonstration of Coal Fired Computers by the artist Harwood. Meet in Discovery’s Great Hall.
Booking: None required, just drop in.
Rivers
The Sage Gateshead
Sun 14 March only
3pm
£8 / £6 concessions
Part of AV Festival's exploration of science, sound and energy. Rivers premieres new commissions by three international sound artists: Kaffe Matthews, Lee Patterson and Jana Winderen, who each visited Northumberland to make field recordings of its river network using underwater microphones.
Sounds of Science
The Sage Gateshead
Sat 13 March: 6.30pm-9pm
£8 / £6 concs
ScienceFest and AV Festival 10 collaborate on an evening of sonic experiments with unusual sound sources including: an audio-modulated Tesla coil, firework sparklers, levitating gold and a block of dry ice! Plus live music performances by artists who explore the science of sound: artificiel, Rhodri Davies, Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand, and Lee Patterson.
AV Closing Performance – English Journey Revisited
The Sage Gateshead
Sun 14 March: 8pm
£12 / £10 concessions
Once the fun of Maker Faire has wound down, ScienceFest recommends AV Festival 10’s closing performance at The Sage Gateshead, written and performed by award winning writers Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen) and Iain Sinclair (London Orbital). Inspired by JB Priestley’s 1934 book English Journey, it includes a specially commissioned soundscape performed by FM Einheit, Stephen O’Malley and Susan Stenger.