Extant was present at the Liberty Festival 2009 with a performance of Obscurity and a stall, kindly shared with Attitude is Everything.
Visitors to the stall could learn more about Extant, and also participate in some fun games like 'Pin the tail on the dog' 'Guess how many chocolate eyeballs in a jar' and 'Guess the weight of the Perkins Brailer'.
Obscurity – Returned, Recommissioned And Reworked!
For the Liberty Festival, Trafalgar Square, September 5th 2009.
Click here to visit the Liberty Festival website
Obscurity features Sound Design by Braunarts, Music by Baluji Shrivastav and visual art by Sally Booth.
Taking the traditional story of ‘The Blind Men and the Elephant’, Obscurity re-tells it in a modern context, with performers and musicians leading you through a kaleidoscope of live music and electronic spatialised sound, real-time artwork and novel description feedback from the audience, to bring a new exciting perspective on the obscure.
Obscurity is Co-commissioned by Greenwich + Docklands International Festival and the Mayor of London’s Liberty Festival.
Conceived, written and directed by Maria Oshodi
Maria Oshodi is the Artistic Director of Extant.
Sound Design by Braunarts
Braunarts is a BAFTA award-winning digital arts and media production company that explores art, science and culture in innovative ways. Braunarts also work as creative consultants for clients in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Terry Braun’s digital art and multimedia experience includes a wide spectrum of installations for museums and galleries and large-scale video projections and audio installations for dance and music performances in theatres and public spaces. www.braunarts.com
Music by Baluji Shrivastav
Baluji is an internationally renowned musician and composer. He plays the sitar, surbahar, dilruba, pakhavaj and tabla, and is a master multi-instrumentalist of Hindustani classical music. Baluji has worked with some of the greatest tabla accompanists, including Anindo Chatterji and Ustad Fayaz Kahn, and composed and played for Indian classical and contemporary dancers, in particular Akram Khan. Baluji has also worked with western artists like Massive Attack, Future Sound of London, Andy Sheppard and Guy Barker. www.baluji.com
Visual art work by Sally Booth
Sally Booth is a visual artist specialising in drawing and painting. She completed a BA and MA in Fine Art at Bristol and Wimbledon Schools of Art. She has exhibited her work at South Bank Centre, Whitechapel Art Gallery and Sadlers Wells, and is much influenced by her recent touring exhibition to Japan. Awarded the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary 2009, Sally enjoyed a residency this year at The Bluecoat and advice from Tate Liverpool. www.sallybooth.co.uk
Music also by Takashi Kikuchi
Takashi Kikuchi trained at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he achieved the Lawson Award. Since 2007 he has given recitals for the Treasury Music Society in Whitehall, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Handel House Museum. Distinguished composer, Frank Stiles, recently dedicated his sonata for viola and piano to Takashi.
Performers
Performers are Margo Cargil, Tim Gebbels and Liam O’Carroll.