Project Object - Disco Groove

Here are some installation imagery of the groove exhibition at Oriel Myrddin's project object exhibition.

Although i'm familiar with the gallery, it was still quite a shock to see that when the gallery is emptied of art it is a much larger space than it looks (time to go back and get another 70 records I thought). As well as being spacious, it has high walls and beautiful soft daylight. The exhibition ended up with around 200+ records, a film on a monitor, some archival images of the original production of these Welsh language records, a coal covered record by Jonathan Anderson, a dansette record player (kindly lent by JakeWhittaker); on which the staff and public played any records they wanted to listen to.... and finally the coup d'état — a rotating disco ball.

On Friday, May 13th we held an event at the gallery in the form of a disco — playing a 3 hour set of these records with some audio samples taken from my collection of snippets from films / tv etc. To give the event a contemporary musical presence we invited Matt who is a DJ and owner of the wonderful independent record shop in Carmarthen the Tangled Parrot, and his friend Iwan, a great sound engineer to put together a 45 min set which gave their own interpretation of what this genre of music means to them. This contemporary mix helped to offset any retro nostalgia of my own playlist. It was a fun evening, with lots of goodwill and warmth with around 60 people of all ages and backgrounds turning up, including David Alston, the Head of the Arts Council of Wales. The records / installation and music became a focal point, a source of communal gathering to celebrate music and community.


here is a link to Matt and Iwan's mix - check it out...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13347325/01%20Cymru_%20Oriel%20Myrddin%20Mix%2013_5_2011.mp3

here is a link to expressionist video footage shot by Joehari Lee of the event

http://vimeo.com/24110046

oriel myrddin link to the event

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150192101013326.327856.92260043325

Project Object - Oriel Myrddin; May 4 - 14th

From April 19th to June 18th Oriel Myrddin in Carmarthen are embarking on an exhibition entitled Project Object. Over this period 4 artists - Carwyn Evans, myself, Becky Adams and Jools Johnson each have the gallery for 2 week sections where we will be individually exploring stories, history, memory and culture through objects and their association.


From May 4th until May 14th I will be exhibiting my collection of 7" vinyl collection of records that have associations with Wales, particularly Welsh language music from the 60's until the early 70's. I consider these artefacts as expressions of authentic folk art. This is an archive of kitsch imagery, popular song, democratic and inclusive all musical styles from that period. These packaged artefacts are cultural relics of modernism in a specific and marginal context.


This interaction with the gallery will take the form of an installation where alongside a grid of vinyl records, I will be showing a video I made entitled Awenau, which refers to the culture of Welsh pop, music, the muse, dance and courtship.

http://vimeo.com/23106492

http://www.peterfinnemore.com/groove.html

http://www.orielmyrddingallery.co.uk/exhibitions.html