AN INTRODUCTION TO OFF_CENTRE
AN INTRODUCTION TO OFF_CENTRE
AN INTRODUCTION TO OFF_CENTRE
JACK SHEEN
Hollow propranolol séance
ft. Emily Tilzey
Images courtesy of the artist
On 16th May, PINK was proud to present Hollow propranolol séance, the first of two new works from artist-in-residence Jack Sheen, a composer whose immersive performance-installations operate within the hazy space between long-form music and sculpture.
For Hollow propranolol séance, the artist has dispersed live musicians around the abandoned fourth floor of 86 Princess Street alongside audio, film, sculptures, and objects, deconstructing and refracting recent concert music across expansive durations and spaces - taking our interaction with empty space as their starting point.
Originally commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall, Hollow propranolol séance stretches out panels of softly teeming sound, each one attempting to conjure – however fleetingly or ambiguously – some kind of presence out of the fragile whirring that we hear in our empty rooms. This ‘heart rate slowing hum’ is accompanied by sculptures by Llandudno based artist Emily Tilzey, whose work explores the human relationship with the objects and spaces that populate the world around us, stripping away contexts to focus on colour and form.
The performance was one hour long, and audience members were invited to freely walk through and sit within the installation as the performance unfolded.
Performed by An assembly.
BIOGRAPHIES
JACK SHEEN
Jack Sheen (1993) is a composer and conductor from Manchester. He regularly works with leading orchestras, ensembles, galleries, and artists on concert and operatic performances, commissions, installations, and interdisciplinary projects. 2021 will see Jack debut with the London Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, and FontanaMIX Ensemble, create a new sound-installation for the Venice Biennale Musica, and complete his tenure as Carne Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, the first ever composer to hold this position.
Jack’s music encompasses concert works for orchestras, ensembles, and soloists, alongside immersive performance-installations that disperse live musicians, audio, film, and dancers around large, open, non-seated spaces such as galleries or warehouses, blurring the lines between long-durational composition and sculpture.
EMILY TILZEY
Emily Tilzey (1991) is an artist from Manchester, currently living in Llandudno. Her practice is influenced by the human condition, exploring and contemplating the delicacy of our existence, with her works – ranging from painting and sculpture to digital collage and installation – reflecting the dimension that exists between our physical experience and our somatic being.
Within her work Emily contemplates the mundanity of the human experience alongside the imagined sentience of form, bringing together disparate objects to create collections that romanticise and pay tribute to the temporal structures of our society.
Emily’s work has been shown in solo shows across the UK and Europe, with recent residencies and installations in Paris, Liverpool, and Birmingham.
AN ASSEMBLY
An assembly are a group dedicated to contemporary and experimental music, installation, and performance. Conceived as a large, open and flexible group with no fixed line up, format or personnel, An assembly have appeared in many guises, tackling works from virtuosic ensemble scores to massed readings, text scores to graphic notation, long duration performances to one-on-one ASMR installations, physical performance to sports and wrestling. Founded in 2017 by the conductor/composer Jack Sheen, An assembly have been a featured ensemble on BBC Radio 3, NTS Radio and regularly perform at LCMF. They were recently described as ‘one of the youngest and most adventurous ensembles in London’ by The Wire.
PERFORMERS
With special thanks to:
Flutes: Amy Yule, Rachael Watson Clarinet: Michael Perrett
Saxophone: Harry Fausing Smith
Voice: Eleanor Cully Boehringer
Guitar: Callum Coomber
Percussion: Amy Gray, Charlie Saunders Violin: Anna Tulchinskaya
Viola: Henry Rankin Cello: Robert Wheatley