21 Jan Boiling Point Press Release
Boiling Point Press Release:
NEW Installation By Thor McIntyre-Burnie & Aswarm
Sound and Installation Artist Thor McIntyre (of Aswarm) is working on a physical & sonic manifestation of the network entity of revolution, residing in the Twitter-sphere.
Flocks of suspended speaker cones (30+) gather around fires (stoves burning wood & coal), each speaker carries a different voice, reading the tweets of a different tweeter, providing a murmeration of voices. The inner circle of these speakers consistently chatter key tweeters in the field, whilst those further out from the fire, offer less frequent (or followed) bursts of tweets.
The installation focuses on tweets written from people in the street, on mobiles in the harsh and very REAL reality of REVOLUTION.
Boiling Point aims to return these ‘voices’ from the plastic reality of Twitter, back into real voices in the physical reality of the street, gathered around real burning fire. However in this new scenario these disembodied ‘voices’ are transposed into a different urban space, and are mediated through other unrelated people, a new entity the “reader”emerges.
The aim is to offer an alternate way of interacting with this new form of disparate network entity. On the one hand the installation acts to disseminate the words & reality of its authors to new audiences and to catalyse discussion about their cause, and on the other hand it examines where these voices exist and quiet how they are mediated and appropriated.
“As the fires draw people into the fold, kettles of boiling water upon the stoves & fresh mint, make tea available to those who gather, whilst a scattering of old cable reals offer seats.. – All these aspects and the words of the Tweeters offer a means of gathering and catalysing discussion. ”
“People may focus on one voice stream or navigate between voices, discovering correlations and creating conversations, or stand back and get an overview of the whole chattering swarm.”
- Focus: Network Revolution and Network analysis
- Focus: Egypt’s Revolution of #Jan25 a year on.
- Focus: Twitters land mark U-turn decision to sanction censorship of its service (for the first time in its history!). -And so reverse the very reason Twitter was used to help organise this emblematic network revolution in the first place..
Boiling Point V1 @ Fish & Chips #3 Festival (Jan 25-27th 2012), l’Atelier 231.
As an INSITU & META supported artist in residence @Atelier231, Sotteville-lès-Rouen (FR). (One of Frances leading creation centres).
In this first prototype rendition of the idea, the installation concentrates on voices reading tweets generated during the revolution in Cairo’s Tahrir square* #Jan25, and interlacing these with the more recent uprisings and elections in Egypt since the fall of Mubarak.
This commission also draws on the historic context of Atelier 231, originally manufacturer of Boilers for the Pacific 231 Steam Locomotive. It was here in Rouen that the Train Network of the continent grew forth, revolutionising our concept of time & space. Given this context & the timing on the anniversary of todays most emblematic example of the new virtual Network Revolution, the Egyptian Revolution of Tahrir Square #Jan25, it seemed very prescient to set Boiling Point V1 here and now.
Producers: Boiling Point V1 happened due to Daniel Andrieu the creative director of Atelier231 having the faith and vision to commission this first rendition of the project (Merci Beaucoup!), Philip Morgan & Dave Reeves (ZEPA) proposing Thor’s work to Atelier231 & ZEPA and Mike Martins (Norfolk & Norwich Festival) proposing Thor & the project to IN-SITU at the “Writing side by side” seminar held in Graz (AT) in November 2011, (where 18 European artists were awarded writing aid packages intended to contribute to the development of their projects presented to the network ).
Ce spectacle a bénéficié d’une aide à l’écriture et d’une aide à la mobilité du réseau IN-SITU, dans le cadre du projet META. Ce projet a été financé avec le soutien de la Commission européenne (DGEAC – programme Culture)
* = Some of the Tweets used in this version were drawn from the fantastic publication “Tweets from Tahrir“, edited by Nadia Idle and Alex Nunns, whose support in this endeavour, we are extremely grateful for. The book offers a linear collection of posts from key activists in the 18 days of Egypt’s revolution in 2011, offering the story of the uprising told directly by people who were live within it. Published by OR Books (ebook & paperback). (www.orbooks.com ISBN:978-1-935928-45-4).
The Projects Future Development: Phase II
The initial version of the project @ Atelier 231, uses solely pre-recorded voices, speaking from Tahrir, however the longer term aim of the project is to develop a mix of pre-recorded and live streaming feeds, utilising a network of “Readers”, to give voice to the text as it is published live on line.
By following key hash-tags and authors, the installation can offer a means of tracking events and discussion live. The work will focus around voices of dissent and reportage from people in very REAL and ALIVE scenarios (i.e. revolution), whilst also exploring questions of authorship, authenticity & censorship ( esp. since Twitters recent U-turn decision to sanction censorship of its service).
Boiling Point has a confirmed commission for 2013 and has been awarded a Writing & Mobility Grant aid from IN-SITU, in the framework of the project META to develop the work over 2012, and we are actively looking for partnerships with related Academic Research Centres and Cultural Institutions to develop the concept in a wider context of research and across borders.
Aswarm & the creative production team.
Although Thor was artistic director of this project it was created within the wider context of Aswarm and a team of fantastic diligent and generous people, whose sweat, blood and work helped enabled this beast to actually come about..
The Aswarm Team:
– Olly Aylmer: Collaborator soundscape & musical and installation rigger extra-ordinaire.
– Giulio Ammendola: Creative & production assistant & collaborator
– Joe Farley: production assistant, gathering “readers”
– Tony: fabrication & construction
– Ayssar Arida: Concept & arabic support
– Gareth Hance of H2 Organisation Ltd for amplifiers and tech support.
A big thank you to:
– Alex Nunns for advice and permission to draw on his and Nadia Idle’s publication: “Tweets from Tahrir” (www.orbooks.com)
– Roger Hartley (BOSI) workshop
– Sheraz Hush & Emeline Fevotte and Mathilde Vautier Translation
– Nisha gathering more “readers”
– The Angels @ Atelier: – Technicians: Rictus “Tus” and Marko and PM Christophe Mouchere. Jeremy (Sound engineer) – Chris Day -master fire-tender.
The voices – tweet “readers”:
A big ThankYou to the people who kindly offered their time & voices:
Laura Alos (Bosi) Amina (Atelier231) Giulio Ammendola
Olly Aylmer Aline Barbieux Caroline (Atelier231)
Hal Colombe Héléne Collomb Léni Colombe
David Anna J. Davies Lori Etienne
Joe Farley Alec via Joe Emeline Fevotte
Florence (Atelier231) Robert Gallagher Roger Hartley (Bosi)
Bobi Hartley Sheraz Hush Christophe Mouchere
Mohamed Mohameds Mum Nisha McIntyre-Burnie
Mora Mcintyre Peter McKerrow Sam
Tracy Scoffin Sylvain (Atelier231) Taya
Duncan Whitley