Anna Barham, Poisonous Oysters, 2019. Spread from the full publication courtesy of the artist

Undone in the face: Anna Barham in conversation with Keira Greene

Listen to Anna’s reading of Undone in the face, a new work produced for Whitstable Biennale’s Journal from material she generated during a residency at St John’s College Oxford in Spring 2019. The recording is followed by a conversation with Whitstable Biennale performance curator Keira Greene, in which Anna describes her work with reading groups and voice recognition software, as well as the ideas and texts informing her work.

John Walter, How Jezreel’s Tower would have looked upon completion, 2019.

The Flying Roll – A memetic history of Jezreel’s Tower

by John Walter

John Walter writes about his research towards the forthcoming 360° film, Jezreel’s Tower, which takes inspiration from the story of The New and Latter House of Isreal, a religious movement which was based in Gillingham, Kent, until 1922. John discusses the history of the cult, the huge tower they built, and what their history can tell us about memes and how they are transmitted.

Jezreel’s Tower will be shown at Estuary 2020.

Image of conversation. courtesy of Keira Greene & Florence Peake 2018

A Work-In-Conversation by Florence Peake, a Studio Visit with Keira Greene

Whitstable Biennale Performance Curator Keira Greene met with artist Florence Peake to discuss Florence’s practice in situ at her studio. The conversation moved fluidly between Florence’s collaboration with dance artists and her relationship to scoring and improvisation. View a transcript of parts of the conversation, written by Keira, with the text annotated and drawn into by Florence.

Jude Crilly, Prose Brut, 2018. Photo: Rosie Lonsdale

Prose Brut: Jude Crilly in conversation with Keira Greene

Commissioned for Whitstable Biennale 2018, Prose Brut was a performance work by artist Jude Crilly made for Whitstable Harbour. It was composed of interwoven choreographies, a seagull swarm, and a site-specific sculpture in collaboration with artist Morgan Courtois.

Jude is joined in conversation by artist and Whitstable Biennale 2018 performance curator Keira Greene to discuss scores, choreography, the texts that inspired the piece and its title; and the joining of performers and audiences in public space. The interview includes extracts from the quadrophonic soundtrack made for the performance.

Creaking Breeze Trio in conversation with Keira Greene

As a part of Whitstable Biennale 2018, on 10 June, between 4:17pm and 5:17pm The Creaking Breeze Trio performed their new composition Slack Fulcrum Twelfths (Green Vitriol) on The Street, a spit of shingle projecting into the sea at Whitstable. Here the trio are joined in conversation by Whitstable Biennale 2018 performance curator Keira Greene to discuss the composition, which was guided by a series of letters about an imaginary band described in Nathaniel Mackey’s ongoing experimental fiction project From A Broken Bottle Traces Of Perfume Still Emanate.

Dave Kane, Alex Neilson, Chris Sharkey & Alex Ward: Live at Contrapop 2018

On the afternoon of 4 August 2018, as part of a partnership between Whitstable Biennale and Contra Pop Festival, Dave Kane (double bass, Leeds), Alex Neilson (drums, Glasgow), Chris Sharkey (electric guitar, Leeds) and Alex Ward (clarinet/electric guitar, London) performed as an improvisational quartet for the first time. Their 45-minute set took place in a marquee on Ramsgate beach in front of a captivated audience of around 250 people.

Listen to the set here, and read a transcript of the group interview conducted immediately after the performance by Adam Coney, an improvisational guitarist and music scholar based in Ramsgate.

Caroline Bergvall: Conference (After Attar)

This video documents Conference (After Attar), a multi-channel performance which premiered at Whitstable Biennale 2018. Drawing from Attar’s medieval poem The Conference Of The Birds, Caroline Bergvall leads a conversation between six conversants, who each share their thoughts on journeys they’ve engineered with their work, and the ways they each experience how languages and species move across places and through time. As the conversation progresses, voice frequencies and other elements start to affect it asking other forms of listening from the audience. (7m 48s)

Leslie Deere, Modern Conjuring For Amateurs, 2016. Image: Reynir Hutber

Leslie Deere: Modern Conjuring for Amateurs

This video, shot by Reynir Hutber, documents Leslie Deere’s performance Modern Conjuring for Amateurs, which takes its title from the book by J.C. Cannell, a popular guide to learning tricks, conjuring and ventriloquism. Deere’s performance combined her performing arts dance background with her sonic arts training, as she created a shared experience, conjuring up sound and visuals with gesture.

Richard Layzell, Softly Softly, 2014. Image: Reynir Hutber

Richard Layzell: Softly Softly

This video, filmed by Reynir Hutber, documents Richard Layzell’s performance Softly Softly, an elemental journey exploring suspension, elasticity, anthropomorphism and flight.Taking place in a then undisclosed location in Whitstable, it invited participants to uncover the universal in the everyday, the endangered in the familiar, function and form, expectation and humility, success and failure, tension and release, pathos and play. (23m31s)

View of Sheppey from the Isle of Grain. Photograph: Matthew de Pulford, 2016

Rachel Lichtenstein: Estuary

Writer and artist Rachel Lichtenstein gave an illustrated talk, with artist Jeremy Millar and chaired by Whitstable Biennale’s Director Sue Jones, at the Whitstable Biennale 2014. Rachel’s talk focused on research she undertook for a book on the Thames Estuary, titled ‘Estuary: A Deep Exploration of Place’, which was published by Penguin in 2016. This journal entry collects an article about the future of the Thames Estuary that Lichtenstein wrote for Aeon, as well as ‘A Study for the Estuary’, a short and poetic film made collaboratively by Lichtenstein and James Price. (Video 16m43s)

Ben Judd, Vast as the Dark of Night and as the Light of Day, 2014. Photo: Bernard G Mills

Ben Judd: Vast as the Dark of Night and as the Light of Day

This video, shot by Bernard G Mills, documents Vast as the Dark of Night and as the Light of Day, a performance for Whitstable Biennale 2014 by Ben Judd. The work was informed by his research into collectivity and ritual in Whitstable, such as the Blessing of the Waters, an annual thanksgiving traditionally associated with St James, patron saint of oystermen. (35m14s)