The debut AND festival took place in Liverpool Wed 23 – Sun 27 September 2009 at FACT, and will be coming to Cornerhouse in October 2010.
Abandon Normal Devices (AND) is a new festival that welcomes audiences to experience the best in new cinema and media art in a celebration that spills from screens and galleries into the streets and imaginations of the North West. AND exists to create a space where artists and filmmakers can offer striking new perspectives, and visitors can enjoy, discuss and interact with ideas, in a festival that questions the normal and champions a different approach.
The festival will take place in Liverpool and Manchester on alternate years, with an extended programme in Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire. Expect an eclectic array of screenings, installations, online projects, public realm interventions, workshops and live events, with a distinctive emphasis on ideas and discussion.
AND is driven by a new collaborative partnership between three of the UK’s leading institutions dealing with art and digital culture. FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool, Cornerhouse in Manchester and folly in Lancaster have joined forces to collaborate on the exciting task of imagining a new festival from scratch.
AND is part of WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy project for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. WE PLAY is a Legacy Trust UK funded project led by the Arts Council, Northwest on behalf of new regional partnerships. WE PLAY is presented in the Northwest as part of beinspired.
As part of the Abandon Normal Devices (AND) festival, WeMakeMedia and folly are teaming up to deliver North, a programme of events and activities aimed at inspiring creative professionals to do things differently.
The first main event, taking place in South Cumbria in October 2009 is called Rule of Thirds. It will take the form of a one day gathering of creative thinkers to discuss the impact of digital culture on the creative workflow, and explore the exciting, developing opportunities for how we create, communicate and collaborate.
We’re inviting proposals from artists and members of the creative industries to contribute to the event.
We’re looking for creative people who want to share inspirational ideas and insights in the form of a 15 minute presentation. You can be working in any discipline, but we’re looking for speakers who will contribute presentations relevant to our main theme: exploring how digital culture and innovation are having an impact on creative workflows
Our intention is to bring together creative people from a range of disciplines to share, learn and debate. We’re really interested in exploring innovative approaches, creative workflows and new forms of collaboration.
Deadline for submissions: Tue 1 Sept 2009
For further information and to submit a proposal visit:
http://www.meetnorth.com/rule-of-thirds/
Following the successes in Liverpool in 2009, this spring join the AND festival on a digital journey across real and virtual worlds in Cumbria, Lancashire and online, as we abandon the city and head for the hills, all before the festival makes it’s mark in Manchester in October.
Expect strange playful and radical interventions across the Northwest’s stunning landscape, as a host of artists, scientists and designers map the region and challenge us to question our relationship with nature and technology, food and health, work and play.
AND creates a space where artists can offer striking new perspectives, and visitors can interact with ideas, discussions and experimentation. Join us in abandoning your normal devices!
Use the links on the left to find out what’s happening in Lancaster (Mon 15 March – Sat 10 April 2010), Preston (Fri 26 – Sun 28 March), Pennine Lancashire (Wed 17 March – Sat 10 April) and Grizedale Forest (Fri 2 – Sat 3 April) this Spring!
Lost? Click here for a Venue Map
Full programme details at www.andfestival.org.uk or follow our AND antics in the lead up to and during the festival on Facebook and Twitter #ANDfest. Or drop us a line at hello@andfestival.org.uk
AND BOOKINGS
The majority of AND festival events are FREE and family friendly. Ticketed events are marked clearly – see AND website for more details.
15 March – 10 April 2010
Vending machine by Ellie Harrison
– Exhibition –
15 March – 10 April
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 11:00, Sun 19:00 – 23:00
The Dukes
An installation for which an old vending machine is reprogrammed to release snacks only when news relating to the recession makes the headlines on the BBC News RSS feed.
AND Short Film Programme
– Screening –
Mon 15 – Fri 19 March, 11:00 – 17:00
Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University
A touring programme of short films that throw caution to the wind, including dramas, animations and artists using unconventional techniques. Here filmmakers present playful and provocative visions of the future and how our bodies operate within it.
The Colour of Nonsense by Forkbeard Fantasy
– Performance –
Mon 15 – Tues 16 March, 19:30
The Dukes
Combining Forkbeard’s famed mix of visual trickery, film and outlandish storylines, The Colour of Nonsense is a comedy thriller which takes us on a journey through the shifting borderlands between sense and nonsense.
Tickets available at the Dukes Box Office 01524 598500
Tales from the Bar of Lost Souls by Imitating the Dog
– Performance –
Thu 18 – Fri 19 March, 19:00 – 21:00
The Dukes
Part musical, part dream play, Tales from the Bar of Lost Souls is a magical story of forbidden love, criminality and the possibility of finding redemption in the unlikeliest of places.
Tickets available at the Dukes Box Office 01524 598500
A Walk from A – Z
– Event –
Thu 18 March, 17:00 – 19:00
Lancaster Library
Join artist in residence Jennie Savage for the launch of this audio walk, exploring the multiple roles of Lancaster’s public library, as it searches for a new identity in the digital age.
This project is part of Radar, a new digital artists’ residency scheme led by folly and Lancashire County Libraries and Information Service.
Follow the Master
– Screening –
Thu 8 April, 20:30
The Dukes
Dir: Matt Hulse / UK / 75 mins
Hulse sets out on an offbeat pilgrimage, walking the 100 mile South Downs Way with his girlfriend, dog and a bag full of Union Jack cocktail sticks.
Screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Matt Hulse.
26 – 28 March 2010
Fake Moon by Simon Faithfull
– Event –
Fri 26 & 27 March, from 20:00
Preston City Centre
For two nights only visitors to Preston will be bathed in the fake moonlight of a strange apparition. This event is weather dependent.
Recent Findings Simon Faithfull
– Exhibition –
Sat 27 & Sun 28 March (Sat 10:00 – 17:00, Sun 11:00 – 16:00)
The Harris Museum & Art Gallery
The British premiere of Simon Faithfull includes two brand new works, which look at the way the artist continually questions, measures and tests his own experience of the world.
Preview Friday 26th March 18:30 – 20:00
Exhibition continues until Sat 5 June.
Simon Faithfull, Artists Talk
– Event –
Sat 27 March , 12:00 – 13:00
The Harris Museum & Art Gallery
Join us for this fascinating insight from the artist himself as he takes us through the process of documenting his intriguing journeys.
Book in advance see website for details
Big M – ISIS Arts
– Public Space –
Sat 27 – Sun 28 March, 11:00 – 17:00
Flagmarket Square
AND is teaming up with the world’s first inflatable cinema to present an experimental and diverse film programme in the heart of Preston.
The Cloud Project
– Public Space –
Sat 27 – Sun 28 March, 11:00 – 17:00
Various locations for the duration of the festival
Join AND on a delicious sensory journey as this unique art and science experiment tours across the region in an ice-cream van. Cat and Zoe will be serving nano ice-cream, creating strawberry flavoured clouds and exploring developments in nanotechnology.
2 – 3 April
ARambo by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes
– Exhibition –
Fri 2 – Sat 3 April, 11:00 – 17:00
The Log Cabin
A unique interactive cinema experience using playing cards the viewer can mash up the films of Rambo live on screen.
AND COMMISSION
Hudson-Powell – Grizedale Forest Residency
– Public Space –
Fri 2 – Sat 3 April, 11:00 – 17:00
Grizedale Forest
Creative duo Hudson-Powell are going under cover in the forest. Playing with technologies such as video-tracking and augmented 3D graphics, making reality and fiction collide! Follow their mission online at www.andfestival.
AND COMMISSION
Get Lost! by Rob Ray
– Public Space –
Fri 2 – Sat 3 April , Daylight hours
Grizedale Forest
Get Lost! turns participants into “disorienteers” misguiding themselves through Forest using the map, compass and GPS as tools of deviation, introspection, and re-imagination. NOTE: You can Get Lost! with or without a GPS device but if you have one, bring it along!
AND COMMISSION
Portable Pixel Playground
– Public Space –
Fri 2 – Sat 3 April, 11:00 – 17:00
Grizedale Forest
Cloud Project
– Public Space –
Fri 2 – Sat 3 April, 11:00 – 17:00
Grizedale Forest
AND Salon – Diagnose
– Event –
Fri 2 April, 18:00 – 20:00
Cafe in the Forest
AND invites artists, UBERMORGEN.COM to answer questions raised by User Generated Illness. Joined by Andy Miah we elaborate on how in an era of self-diagnosis we assess our own health. All Salons are accompanied by food, drink and good conversation. Book in advance see website for details.
Scratch ‘n Sniff Cinema presents The Company of Wolves
– Screening –
Friday 2 April, 20:00
The Yan
Dir: Neil Jordan / UK / 75 mins / 1984 / Cert 18
Culinary enthusiasts Bompas & Parr explore classic British cinema by introducing odours that relate to key scenes and dialogue, encouraging personal reminiscence as unlocked associations bubble to the surface.
Tickets £5 see AND website for booking details – www.andfestival.org.uk
27 March – 10 April
Untiltled by Stanza
– Exhibition –
27 March – 11 April, 12:00 – 17:00, Saturday to Thursday
The Parlour, Towneley Hall, Burnley
Internationally renowned artist Stanza will take over the historic parlour at Towneley Hall with a feast of data collection and visualization.
Initiated thanks to a folly Lanternhouse International (FLI) residency
Portable Pixel Playground
– Public Space –
Thu 8 April, 12:00 – 17:00
Towneley Hall & Gardens, & Burnley town centre
Cloud Project in Pennine Lancashire
– Public Space –
Thur 8 – Sat 10 April
Accrington, Blackburn and Burnley (see website for locations and times)
Strange Attractors – The Anatomy of Dr Tulp by KMA
– Public Space –
Fri 9 – Sat 10 April, After dark
King William Street, Blackburn
A playful interactive light installation exploring how we use our bodies to move and communicate in a material world. When people enter the space they become active participants, as magnetic bodies themselves, animating and redistributing the flow of energy within the system.
AND COMMISSION
Interface Amnesty by Sound Network & guest artists
– Event –
Sat 10 April, 12:00 – 17:00
Blackburn
A hands on, show and tell event of self-made and hacked devices for making media art. Like a creative technology car boot, Interface Amnesty represents an emerging and developing sector of artists, hobbyists and makers in the UK experimenting with electronics and technology. Meet the makers and play!
MP3 Experiment by Improv Everywhere
– Public Space –
Sat 10 April, 14:00
King William Street, Blackburn
Based in New York, Improv Everywhere cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places. For AND Improv Everywhere and YOU reclaim the streets of Blackburn in a flashmob spectacle.
For information about how to get involved in the chaos see AND website for details – www.andfestival.org.uk
AND Salon – Nanoscaled
– Event –
Sat 10 April, 18:00 – 20:00
Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington
AND invites The Cloud Project to discuss the implications of nanotechnology. How will the alteration of physical matter via nanotechnology change how and what we consume. Is our disordered eating connected to our planet’s broader economic crisis?
All Salons will be acompanied with food, drink and stimulating company!
Book in advance see website for details – www.andfestival.org.uk
AND Closing Party / 44 Promotions present Plaid
– Event –
Sat 10 April, 20:00 ’til late
41 King Street, Blackburn
Join us for the grand finale as we celebrate an action packed festival with Plaid (Warp Records). The British electronic duo Andy Turner and Ed Handley will be performing a unique live AV set to help AND close with an electronic bang!
Tickets £7 see AND website for booking details – www.andfestival.org.uk