DIGIT FESTIVAL
Fri 10 - Sun 12 June
The Lowry’s exciting feast of groundbreaking music, dance, performance and visual art DIGIT takes place on the Fri 10, Sat 11 and Sun 12 June, welcoming the very best local and national digital artists to The Lowry for three days of performance, workshops and more.
Friday 10th June – Dance
The Rite Of Spring
By Igor Stravinsky – Staging by Roger Bernat based on choreography by Pina Bausch
Members of the audience are given three-channel headphones and welcomed into the performance of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring. Several voices can be heard – different ones on each channel – voices in parallel that diverge and overlap. Spectators play the leading role in this immersive show that is both a game and choreography.
Find out more here
8pm – 8.45pm & 9pm – 9.45pm
Tickets £16 (Under 25s £5)
Quays Theatre
Other events that day
Bridget Fiske & CAT students
Bridget Fiske is a dance theatre artist specialising in performance and choreography for the stage, digital environments, sited and outdoor work and broadcast media. She engages dance as a collaborator, performer, creator, facilitator, teacher and story teller. She works across the UK, Europe and Australia as a solo, collective and company artist.
2pm – 3pm, 4pm – 5pm & 6pm – 7pm, The Studio
Dora Cruz & The Northern Lights Painters
Working with Dora Cruz, participants will use dance techniques and advance photography techniques to create still images. The Northern Light Painters will then teach participants how to paint with light, creating a stunning dance image that can be taken home.
2pm – 3pm, 4pm – 5pm & 6pm – 7pm, The Studio
Company Chameleon & Phil Tune
Working alongside The Lowry’s company in residence, Company Chameleon, participants will experience a dance workshop that incorporates cameras and projectors.
Company Chameleon, The Lowry’s resident company, believe in Dance Theatre as a vital method for social change. Their work allows the viewer to experience the art of dance whilst tackling challenging issues in inventive ways that allows the viewer access and inclusion.
This hands-on practical workshop explores human movement on screen and its relationship with a camera in motion. Creating a short choreographed sequence, participants will concentrate on a specific spatial path and its artistic potential on a phrase of movement. The sequence will be filmed, with each participant receiving a DVD of the work created at the end of the workshop.
Phil Tune is a successful professional film and commercials director whose involvement in dance and film spans over twenty years. After formally training in dance and choreography he worked professionally and internationally as a choreographer in theatre, installation and cinema before concentrating on the latter full time.
12pm – 1.30pm, 2.30pm – 3pm, 4pm – 5.30pm – The Studio
The Surreal World of Edmond Tahl
Edmond accidentally finds himself trapped in a perpendicular world of absurdity, where the bizarre is always close on his heels. Amidst a reality of swarming bees, spaghetti western gun fights, squeaky prams and improbably large monsters, he attempts to keep his composure. Using only a remotely controlled amplified suitcase Edmond combines music, sound effects and mime as he explores his self-absorbed world of misfortune and adventure. The show mischievously plays with cultural and social conventions and etiquette, in this hilarious improvisational high-energy comedy performance.
Formed in 2003 by Nick Warburton and Bert Eke, Stuff & Things Theatre Company produce sublime, quirky and unique street performance work. The company’s philosophy is simple – to entertain their audience and themselves. If it makes them laugh then it has passed the test!
12pm – 7pm, around The Lowry
The Richard Goodall Gallery: Digital Dreams
An exhibition of digital art works from three major digital artists:
Ray Caesar, Jamie Balidridge and Ron Job. Using computer generated imagery to create surreal scenes that are challenging and beautiful, the three artists' work will be exhibited in the Hexagon Room throughout DIGITFest 2011.
The work will be framed or diasic mounted on aluminium with plexiglass.
The Richard Goodall Gallery is a state-of-the-art gallery facility showing the best in contemporary and fine art across all mediums. The gallery has a unique collection of work from the leading artists from around the globe, including Leonard Cohen, Ray Caesar and Mark Seliger.
Exhibition, the Hexagon Room
Saturday 11th - Music
Holotronica
Live Audio Visual Show
Holotronica is a groundbreaking AV project which involves the combining of live electronic music with real-time visual synthesis delivered using the latest Holographic and 3D technologies. With 3D glasses noticeably absent, the audience will experience an immersive 3D club environment complete with mind-blowing special effects that you will want to reach out and touch.
Find Out More Here
8pm – 9pm, DJ 9pm – 10pm
Tickets £16 (Under 25s £5)
Quays Theatre
Other events that day
Shlomo
Back in the UK after his recent triumph at the World Loopstation Championship is America, Shlomo will deliver a unique set as part of DIGIT, which will incorporates new technology with a Q&A session, plus the chance for people to try out beatboxing for themselves.
Shlomo is one of the world’s finest human beatboxers and is known for his experimental collaborations with a diverse range of artists such as DJ Yoda, Björk, Martha Wainwright, Hexstatic, Portico Quartet, Jarvis Cocker, Mr Scruff, Nitin Sawhney, and Mad Professor, as well as his awesome beatbox troupe The Vocal Orchestra.
Classically trained as a drummer and percussionist, Shlomo discovered his ability to create the same rhythms using only his voice at a young age.
Tickets £8 (Under 25s & Concs £3)
Times 4.30pm, The Studio
Demdike Stare
This is your chance to see a live Audio Visual performance by Demdike Stare, who will use projection and live sampling.
Founded in 2009 by two well known Manchester characters, Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty, Demdike Stare combine cult soundtracks, Arabesque dubs and psychotomimetic ephemera with a proper Lancastrian twist…
Miles Whittaker has spent years making grainy and often abrasive techno as Modern Love’s DJ MLZ and one half of Pendle Coven. Sean Canty is a highly respected member of the Finders Keepers record label, unearthing ancient and lost recordings and giving them a new lease of life.
Tickets £8 (Under 25s & Concs £3)
Times 6.30pm, the Studio
Unity Radio – Radio Presenting Workshops
1pm - 7pm, The Studio
If you’re interested in radio and what it’s like behind the mic, then this workshop is for you. Led by members of Unity Radio, participants will be offered the chance to learn the art of radio presenting and then experience a live broadcast.
Unity Radio 92.8FM champions the tastes and interests of its listeners by reflecting popular trends and embracing musical cultures not currently served by radio in Greater Manchester.
With a music selection that represents the energy and diverse nature of both its audience and the city it broadcasts to, Unity Radio takes pride in reflecting the musical heritage that has influenced youth culture across the UK.
With high quality original speech content, relevant music, unique outreach initiatives and pioneering station interactivity, Unity Radio is more than your average radio station.
Sunday 12 June – Visual Arts
New Opera Hero
Comprising musicians and artists who blend music, visuals and performance in one concert installation that flows between different art forms, this full sensory experience mixes live visual art installations, holographic video pieces, video projection, circus skills and storytelling.
Find Out More Here
8pm
Tickets £12 (Under 25s £5)
Quays Theatre
Other events that day
Me and The Machine
This immersive sensory experience invites audience members to participate in interactive virtual reality. Me and The Machine is Sam Pearson (UK) and Clara García Fraile (Spain). They met whilst studying Performance and Visual Art at the University of Brighton. Since then, they have developed an interdisciplinary collaborative practice - Me and The Machine. Combining groundbreaking uses of audio visual technology and interactive media with choreographed performance, evocative text and distinctive imagery, Me and The Machine invite their audience members to participate in unique immersive, sensorial experiences.
Times 12pm – 7pm, Compass Room
DIGIT.Interact
The School of Computer Science, University of Manchester
Digital art surrounds us all – from the Xbox in your living room to the latest videos on MTV. We’ll show you how, with nothing more than your home computer and a little inspiration, you too can be a part of this new creativity.
With spectacular interactive installations showing what’s possible, and friendly help on hand to show what you could achieve yourself, this is a space to play, discover, create and share. No experience or expertise is needed, all welcome.
In association with The School of Computer Science, University of Manchester.
Times 12pm – 7pm, The Studio
I'm Frank Morgan: The First Tale From Paradise Heights (Short Film)
Lone Wolf, Loan Shark, Lone Killer... why can't he face the man in the mirror anymore? Frank's a hard man in a dirty old town. The man who has taken on the hardest in The Heights must face his toughest opponent of all – himself.
Joe O’Byrne is one of Manchester’s hardest working writers/actors and the creator of the fictional community Paradise Heights – a drug-fuelled, deprived community which people call home.
This community has been the setting for the indie feature film Lookin’ for Lucky, as well as the plays The Bench, I’m Frank Morgan and Rank, all of which have featured in The Lowry Studio. All of the productions have been well received, with The Bench showcasing in Covent Garden, London, later this year.
‘The Heights now has a really diverse range of characters brought to life by incredibly talented and passionate thus far ‘unknown’ actors and crew… I owe them all a huge debt. Ultimately this form of art is a collaborative process, without their incredible efforts the work stays on the page.’ Joe O’Byrne
The Watcher: A Tale From Paradise Heights (Short Film)
Halloween in Paradise Heights. A little girl sits by her bedroom window, scared by ‘the man’ outside...
Jack, a loving family man, begins his nightly lonely vigil, protecting his family... Marek, a night shift driver for Lucky Cabs, begins a shift he will never forget... Loan shark Frank Morgan roams the streets, still trying to forget a night from his past...
And one house on Athlone Avenue holds secrets that will haunt them all.
Tickets £12 (Under 25s & Concs £5)
Times 3pm & 8pm, The Studio
DIGIT is The Lowry’s contribution to the mygames programme, connecting young people to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Alongside other mygames programme partners The National Trust, The Terrence Higgins Trust, The Eden Project and Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Lowry will capitalise on the excitement and goodwill surrounding the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to make a lasting difference to the lives of young people throughout the UK.
Funded and powered by v, The National Young Volunteers Service, mygames projects throughout the UK will focus around the themes of education, culture, environment, health and sport. The Lowry was chosen by v for its imaginative approach to working with young people, its fresh ideas and its commitment to embracing the opportunities created by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Get involved sign up to the V website to register interest in this project and other exciting volunteering opportunities in your area. www.vinspired.com
For more information and interview enquiries please contact Marie-Claire Daly, Media Relations Executive, on 0161 876 2044 or e-mail marie-claire.daly@thelowry.com or Natalie Kols, DIGIT Media Liaison volunteer on theinkjunkie@aol.com
- Notes to editors -
The Lowry celebrated its 10th anniversary on 28 April 2010 and has spent 10 years delighting, engaging and challenging both local and national audiences with the very best in visual art and performance. The Lowry Centre Trust is a not-for-profit charitable organisation and registered charity (no. 1053962). All income supports our world-class Theatres and Galleries programme, the care and display of the LS Lowry Collection and our life-changing Community and Education work. The Lowry’s Chief Executive, Julia Fawcett was awarded an OBE for services to the Arts in the Queen’s 2010 New Year Honours list.