Lüna Talks: Uncertainty Scenarios - Time and Progress, ICA London, Monday 1 June 6 - 8 pm

At the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London on Monday 1 June at 6pm, I will be contributing to a discussion that promises to be fascinating.

A three century old ritual is reimagined by artist Marjolijn Dijkman in the form of a week long presentation of ideas and discussions called "LUNA Talks: Uncertainty Scenarios." The LUNA Talks take place around a table, a reproduction of the original table which accommodated The Lunar Society of Birmingham, where pioneers of the Industrial Revolution debated Philosophy, Arts, Sciences and Commerce, every month on the night before full moon. Three centuries later, this table, becomes a platform to develop and expand the knowledge production of our times. The programme includes conversations about the notion of Time, ...

Time and Progress

Monday 1 June

6 - 8 pm

With Stephen Boyd Davis (RCA), Marjolijn Dijkman (Artist) and Cathy Haynes (Artist and Curator) [and possibly others*]. 

* update 30 May. Jay Griffiths, author of Pip Pip: A Sideways Look At Time has confirmed her participation.

On Monday we will introduce LUNA and the project Uncertainty Scenarios. We will focus on the origins of ideas around progress in relation to the timeline "A New Chart of History" of Lunar Man Joseph Priestley and alternative ideas in relation to this concept of time from the past as the present as from different cultural perspectives. 

More information at http://www.fig2.co.uk/#/22/50

No tickets are necessary on Monday, but they are the rest of the week.  As the main ICA entrance is closed on Mondays, entrance to the discussion is via the Duke of York Steps [Google map], as in this drawing (click to enlarge):

Britten's Words

At the start of May, Florian Kräutli and I went to the Red House at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, UK to see the exhibition Britten’s Words, in which Florian’s digital visualisation appears.

The exhibition makes exceptionally good use of audio-guides, providing real musical depth to the objects and explanations.

In Florian’s visualisation, song-cycles in Britten’s life of composing are connected to the poets positioned in their own historical timeline. See earlier post for explanation.

Many thanks as always to Lucy Walker of the Britten-Pears Foundation for her sensitive and supportive collaboration.