Postcard collages

The Postcard Collages are arranged on postcard sized flyers or plain postcards. The process of collecting pictures, words and numbers for the purpose of collage was begun a few years ago when when my work was based mainly on collecting, collage and drawing. These three were made recently after realizing that collage was still relevant to my work and I still enjoy doing it. They are composed of things collected over the last few years; bits cut from newspapers and record covers, receipts, an envelope, a photocopy of a key and some green paint found in my flat the day I moved in. An idea with these three- seeing as they have unused stamps in them- is to post them to myself and get the postmarks on them.

photos from ...menu for murmur. Salford, June 2010

^Vibrating cymbal exhibit at ...menu for murmur. Sharing a suspended plinth with work by Chopshop. Chapman Gallery, Salford, June 2010. Photographed on out-of-date 35m film.

^The small cymbal on top of the speaker with the amp built into a plastic box.
Photographed by Ben Gwilliam.

More on ... menu for murmur: http://thosesoundsbetween.co.uk/projects/-menu-for-murmur/

"Ground-loop Problem"

A free download EP on my Found in a Skip netlabel. Originally released in 2009.

(Original post: 16/06/10. Updated: 05/02/11)

Download direct from the label (all tracks and cover): Skip 05


1. Six Lines 2. Buddha Book Taps 3. Three Bands of Static 4. Delayed Trains
5. Accidental Ending.

Named after a problem with a ground-loop ruining any attempts at recording with an unwanted and constant noise that went away as suddenly as it arrived- Ground Loop Problem is an EP of selected live improvised, minimal composition experiments from 2010 and one from 2009. The tracks ‘Six Lines’, ‘Buddha Book Taps’ and ‘Accidental Ending’ are taken from the same recording.

‘Accidental Ending’ is a genuine accident with the main loop cutting off instead of fading out.

The sounds are made with; amplified books, contact mics, broken cymbal, small cymbal, toy xylaphone, wire rack, pill packet, typewriter, breath, 3 band pocket radio, tape recorder, found field recording tape, ‘Steam In The 50s’ tape, turntable with ‘Golden Age of Steam’ record, fence brace, various found objects, reel-to-reel tape recorder, digital delay, Loopstation.

Track 2 contains samples from the FM3 Buddha Machine II: fm3buddhamachine.com

Piece for ...menu for murmur: a small cymbal placed on top of a speaker playing the sound of the cymbal being hit and brought close to the mic from a CD player powered by a small amp unit for which I built the circuit myself. The original idea was for the speaker to vibrate from the tone of itself, which worked nicely on tape but not so well on CD, such is the nature of improvised work. Still the sound and tone is altered by the cymbal placed on the speaker to an interesting effect. One the loudest things in the exhibition. The whole exhibition works really well with some automatic sounds happening regularly, some interactive ones happening sporadically and some pieces that don't make actual sound but get the imagination working on what sounds there could be. The sounds all work together to create a kind of ongoing live composition and performance.

...menu for murmur at Chapman Gallery, Salford

…menu for murmur

Curators: Ben Gwilliam,  Helmut Lemke

Tuesday 1 June – Friday 25 June

Performance: Saturday 5 June, 5.00 – 7.00pm


A menu, tables but no food… instead tables laid with objects producing sound.

…menu for murmur is an experiment that will show new and exciting Sound Work, which acknowledges the subtle interactions of different sound work and highlights trust between artists.

As many regulars of sound art will attest, the presentation of such work in group exhibitions can be problematic due to the very nature of noise itself; its ever-penetrating, omni-directional nature resulting in unintentionally overlapping sounds. Rather than viewing the overlapping of noises as a disturbance, …menu for murmur takes such sound bleed as its central concern.

Curators Ben Gwilliam and Helmut Lemke have invited international sound artists to contribute individual pieces that will stand on their own but will also create a new collaborative piece …menu for murmur. The sound objects, which include electorinic devices, rulers and even a desk fan, will consciously be arranged in one space far and near.

Sounds will be heard simultaneously, individually and in collaboration; close listening events as well as more cacophonous ones will emerge throughout the duration of the exhibition, considered by Gwilliam and Lemke to be one continuous performance.


Helmut said: “We have 26 artists from all over the world who are contributing to this exhibition. They’ve had to put a lot of trust in us to create a meaningful piece using their individual creations, but we’ve come up with a truly diverse and interactive piece of work which combines visual and audio art.

Mill 24: 12 tracks completed.

Mill 24 was a 24 hour arts event at Islington Mill, Salford, from 12pm on Saturday June 29 till 12pm on Sunday June 30 With artists creating works and performances throughout the 24 hours. My original proposal was to make 24 different sound recording in 24 hours with 1 hour to source, record, edit and publish each track within the hour. The project was shortened to 12 hours. Using only the place and what was happening at the time as the basis for the recordings the results are mostly field recordings taken on various formats; reel-to-reel tape, digital voice recorder, cassette-recorder and direct to computer, capturing different textures and documenting actions, observations, people, places and spaces around the Mill. The results are the 12 tracks and photographs below that were posted as they were finished some were published late - an hour is a rather short time find something to record, record it, photograph it, edit it, upload to Soundcloud, link to the blog and upload a photograph.

Tape recorder and sound drawing on a windowsill of the stairs  at Islington Mill.

Mill 24 Track 9: Graham's Induction Coil

MilL 24: Graham's Induction Coil by Gary Fisher

Sound of Graham Dunning using a drill against his hand-made induction coil echoing down the corridor outside the studio. Recorded on cassette dictafone with lots of inteference. Published at 20:57.


Graham Dunning at Mill 24

Mill 24 Track 4: Outside The Building From The Studio.

Mill 24: Outside The Building From The Studio by Gary Fisher


Sound from outside the building, from the studio on second floor, as picked up by a drum mic, pointing downwards, through a mixer with added bass. Recorded direct to the computer. Published at 15:58.

Mill 24 Track 2: Contact Mic Dragged Down Stairs.

Mill 24: Contact mic dragged down stairs. by Gary Fisher

A hand-made contact mic dragged down stairs from the 4th to the ground floor.

Digital recording. Published at 14:02

Mill 24 Track 1: On The Stairs

Mill 24: On The Stairs. by Gary Fisher

First sound recording for Mill 24. Taken on the stairs of the Mill with a cassette tape recorderon the lowest tape speed. Published 16 minutes late.

Mill 24: 12 new sound recordings in the first 12 hours.

12pm - 12am

mill24.blogspot.com 

Mill24 is a series of 24 hour exhibitions taking place every last Saturday of the month in April 2010 and May 2010 at Islington Mill, Manchester, UK.

The project will utilise all 5 floors of the vastly versatile Mill space with a diverse range of work from both Local and International artists. The work will be innovatively presented, with site specific installation, performance, and time based media. Each exhibition will be a packed programme of up and coming artists, with each piece of work scheduled within a structured ‘day’.

The concept for this project was born out of an interest in the quick turnaround of exhibition programming and the short attention span towards art that comes with it. The 24-hour time frame is essentially one private view, prolonging the excitement of an opening but turning all of the artwork shown in the exhibition into ‘limited edition’ works, once the day is over the work will not be seen again at the same venue. We have curated these engaging, interactive shows so that throughout one day several performances, happenings, and ‘openings’ occur simultaneously.

Dates . Sat 24th-Sun 25th April 2010 6pm-6pm. Sat 29th-Sun 30th May 2010 12pm-12pm.

Place . Islington Mill . James Street . M3 5HW .

Contact . mill24@hotmail.co.uk


Curated by Lois Macdonald . Helen Collett . Anna Beam .

Recording of Amplified Floorboard.

Amplified Floorboard by Gary Fisher


A recording of the Amplified Floorboard installation -direct from the contact mic- on the last day of the exhibition.

April 23, 2010.

Amplified Floorboard exhibit at Kraak Gallery, Manchester.


"A site-specific installation that explores sound through the amplification of surfaces, textures and surroundings in the gallery space. Part of the gallery floor is amplified to draw attention to the vibrations and sounds created when visitors walk across a specific part of the space. The sound is relayed to a speaker placed away from the source meaning the result is dislocated from it's origin." (from statement in exhibition catalogue)



In appearance this is my most minimal exhibition work to date: an amplifier at one side of the room and a speaker on the other. Underneath a contact mic attached to the underside of the wooden floor with the wire going underneath to an amplifier sat on the floor with avery long wire going along the gaps in the floorboards to the other side of the room. The hand-built contact mic was quite sensitive and picked up sound from other floorboards around the one with the mic attached meaning more quiet sounds could be heard by not stepping directly onto that specific floorboard. It was not obvious to most visitors which was the amplified floorboard and some didn't realise where the sound from the speaker originated or what it was. Some fun was had on the opening night watching people interact with the work noticing that when they stepped on a certain part of the floor it made a noise, some people started dancing to create rhythmic sounds while others traced the wire back from the speaker to the amplifier to try to discover the source of the sound.

Notes and drawings for amplified floorboard exhibit.

Upcoming group show in Manchester.

From kraak.co.uk

Lost Language juxtaposes themes of loss, fear and disgust with visions of beauty, transcendence and spirituality. Cutting edge media and practice is juxtaposed with time old concepts and concerns. Lost Language raises questions about femininity and masculinity through material and concept: outmoded machines with crocheted acrylic, organic matter with video, digitalism with spirituality.

The inspiration for the Lost Language came from Julia Kristeva’s bookPowers of Horror which investigates the roots of our sense of the ‘abject’, our fascination with it and what it means to us. The key theme in the book is around the concept of ambiguity. Ambiguity frightens us: when we think we know something or someone and we find we have been deceived or misguided we doubt our senses. If we become too afraid of ambiguity it can be stifling to creativity and to our fascination with the unknown in general. The rediscovery of horror and therefore ambiguity, according to Kristeva, brings us closer to our pre-historic selves who were not so bound to oppressive patriarchal systems.

Workshops and performances will be held on 17th and 18th April with artists including Matt Dalby, Graham Dunning and Gary Fisher.

Contact Louise 07958 050 730, louwoodcock@hotmail.co.uk to book workshop places or for more details