An annual general meeting at Somerset House Studios with artist performances, installations and DJs across three subterranean levels of Somerset House usually hidden to the public.
In October 2019, Somerset House Studios turned three, and this year’s AGM opened up the building for one night only, performance-led programme exploring states of temporality and continuous change.
LINE-UP: MYKKI BLANCO, CHICKS ON SPEED, SAM WILLIAMS AND ROLY PORTER, ZUZANNA CZEBATUL, PHILOMENE PIRECKI, VIVIENNE GRIFFIN, ROWDY SS, ERICA SCOURTI, JACOB SAMUEL, JULIET JACQUES, HANNAH PERRY, PAUL PURGAS, ANNA MIKKOLA, RKSS, DÉCALÉ AND MORE.
Movement, flux, decay; works seen to materialise and dissipate, where beginnings and endings are blurred; encounters beyond the gallery, stage or club which might be experienced only in part, yet squarely locate the audience in the here and now.
Internationally renowned musician, performing artist, and LGBTQ+ activist Mykki Blanco presented a special performance following a short residency at Somerset House Studios.
Chicks on Speed’s Melissa E. Logan and Alex Murray-Leslie in collaboration with Anat Ben-David and Tina Frank, perform a real-time assemblage of collected documentation from our environments to generate sounding visual art.
Erica Scourti was joined by members of experimental vocal ensemble Musarc to present a new poly-vocal performance drawing on (mis)interpretations of fragmented video diaries to explore impersonal intimacy and dynamics of sharing, over-hearing and withholding in practices of self-citation.
Developed in residence at Somerset House Studios, visual artist Sam Williams and musician Roly Porter collaborated for Salvage Rhythms, a performance drawing on systems of archaeology, mycelial networks, composting and non-human relationships to explore different possibilities of survival and connection.
In the River Rooms, a sculptural audio-installation by Jacob Samuel uses indisposable yet throwaway consumer materials to play scores of emotive audio. Farmed from open source platforms, different rhythms, melodies and speech phase over time, amplified by their physical counterparts.
Philomene Pirecki presents a new multi-channel audio visual installation drawn from research into the phenomena of frisson or ‘skin orgasms’, their stimuli and physiological effects. Vivienne Griffin’s site-specific drone installation Codependent Frequencies modulates in tone as the staircase of the building is ascended and descended, and Zuzanna Czebatul’s work T-Kollaps fills the interior of the River Rooms with inflated toy-columns as if with elements of ancient ruins suffering decay.
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T-Kollaps, image credit: Bartosz Gorka
In the basement, the Paint Room features a takeover by Décalé (meaning displaced in place and time), a club night and platform run by Chooc Ly and Anne Duffau (A---Z) for nocturnal creatures, loud existential insurgents and disobedient children where audiences can encounter experimental, collapsing and flawless sounds and visuals. Line-up features Alpha, Chooc Ly, Ifeoluwa and Jaeho Hwang with VJ Claudio Giambusso.
In the vaults, Juliet Jacques reads from her forthcoming short story collection that documents the history of trans people in the United Kingdom.
Throughout the night, sound and movement artist Rowdy SS brings Balance, an ongoing work-in-research - with live sound text by Rebecca Bellantoni - which explores our uses of 'self' and asks: how are we using space? How is space using us?
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Rowdy SS
AGM features DJ sets from Studios residents Hannah Perry, Anna Mikkola, Paul Purgas and rkss, and will also offer for late night access to Gallery 31, Somerset House Studios’ new permanent exhibition space.
Since October 2016, the Studios have nurtured a unique community of over 300 artists and makers who’ve inspired a boundary breaking programme of events, workshops and exhibitions rooted in art, music, subversion, critical thinking and the celebration of counter cultural movements.
AGM is a multi-room event with artists performing across different spaces throughout the night. Access to any given space will be on a first come first served basis.
AGM is supported by the Adonyeva Foundation.
Music: Transience by Jaeho Hwang