Tuesday 3 July 2007
Gala Music Finale

Organised by Cecilia Wee in collaboration with the London Musician's Collective

The final Rational Rec of season two! For the last time in our 2006/2007 season, come along and be artistically, intellectually and alcoholically stimulated.

For this event, we join forces with the London Musician's Collective - the leading organisation for experimental and improvised music and the force behind Resonance FM, London's art radio station.

Our Finale includes:

- A double Bass solo from London's leading improviser John Edwards.

- Danish artist Jacob Kirkegaard's subtle sonic manipulations will include the sound of his archive of 1960s soviet 16mm films. Kirkegaard's '4 Rooms', exploring abandoned spaces in Chernobyl's Zone of Exclusion, was released on Touch last year. fonik.dk

- French cracked electronics player Jean-Philippe Gross performs a duo with Austrian software inventor Klaus Filip. The sound worlds of lo-fi & hi-tech electricity collide. jxpx.free.fr / losglissandinos.klingt.org

After July 2007, Rational Rec will be taking a break until our next season starts in October 2007. More information will be on our newsletter in the near future. In the meantime, please sign up for updates on our mailing list page.

 

Tuesday 5 June 2007
OuLiPo night
Organised by Matthew Shlomowitz and Andrew Infanti

A playful exploration of this post-war French literary movement, OuLiPo is an acronym that translates as "workshop of potential literature" most famously explored by Georges Perec and Raymond Queneau. The tenet of the OuLiPo is to create literature with constraints (not using the letter E an infamous example, or replacing nouns in texts with other from the dictionary).

The principles of the OuLiPo have increasingly been taken into other art forms and this night will feature performances of theatrical works from the OuTraPo ("workshop for potential tragicomedy"), developed by Stanley Chapman, the only British member of the OuLiPo.

There will be creative activities for the audience and a new audio-visual work, "A Documentary Saga of the OuLiPo", by video artist Rees Archibald, composer Matthew Shlomowitz and keyboardist Andrew Infanti.

Also featured book stalls by Bookworks, Artwords Bookshop, Dalkey Archive Press, Strange Attractor and artist Amy Prior.

 

Tuesday 1 May 2007
The Ages of Rational Rec
Organised by Matthew Shlomowitz and Russell Martin

Bored of twenty- and thirty-something artists? Rational Rec presents a special night bringing together talented younger and older local people who share a love of the arts.

Younger people perform Chinese folk tales, diabolo, video art, poetry and music by The Beatles, Miles Davis, Bill Withers and baroque composer Veracini, featuring Alice Harvey, Callum Jones, Buddleia Maslen, Fela Maslen, Sacha Newman, Alex Tuckey, Kyron Van den driessche and Jai Vellala Wilson.

Try your hand with our free 5-minute piano lessons and listen to a selection of childhood-related pieces by composers Debussy and Lachenmann, performed by pianist Kerry Yong.

At the other end of the scale, Chris Giff, Rational Rec regular, DJ, events promoter, local priest, and working man reads some of his experimental poetry, and composer John White plays a variety of instruments in a variety of styles

Once again Rational Rec makes contemporary art taste better with special culinary treats for all ages.

 

Tuesday 3 April 2007
Bandroom Bethnal Green
Curated by Øyvind Torvund

Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund curates a night of musical and visual happenings. He has composed several short avant-garde folk pieces that will be performed by the Anglo/Belgian Plus Minus ensemble who will teach the pieces to other musicians by ear. Each piece has a visual partner, a drawing by Canadian comic artist Marc Bell. These drawings will be recreated by a group of artists in their own style and given away to members of the audience.

A true Rational Rec inter-art social occasion! More information and sounds from Bandroom is at myspace.com/bandrom.

Artists: Penny Sadubin, Tim Rushby-Smith, Tanya Mlcek and Galen Wainwright.

Musicians: Plus Minus, Kjell Tore Innervik, Håkon Stene, Tim Parkinson, Jennifer Allum, Adam De la Cour, Joakim Munker, Steve Beresford & Dom Lash.

 

Tuesday 6 March 2007
Rationales of Smoking
Curated by Cecilia Wee

In advance of the UK ban on smoking in public places, Rational Rec dedicates an evening to the delights and perils of smoking: a new video by artist Emily Richardson (www.emilyrichardson.org.uk) in collaboration with tobacconist JJ Fox of Mayfair (www.jjfox.co.uk) on how to smoke a pipe, a debate between representatives from the anti-smoking lobby group ASH (www.ash.org.uk) and ‘pro-liberty to smoke’ organisation FOREST (www.forestonline.org), with the evening culminating in a new performance by live artist Lucy Panesar.

 

Tuesday 6 February 2007
New Rational Music

New Rational Music, programmed by Rational Rec's Matthew Shlomowitz and Cecilia Wee, features new works by six UK composers. The music and accompanying composer conversations draw on themes including the fragment, performance art and the experimental tradition.

Joanna Bailie
'On and Off'
For 6 auxiliary players
www.bmic.co.uk

Paul Whitty
'i tried living in the real world'
For 2 pianos
www.bmic.co.uk

Alex Hills
'The Fountain and The Garden'
For cello and electronics

John Lely
'Second Symphony'
www.johnlely.co.uk

Diana Burrell
'Paragraph with Curve'
For one player on accordion, piano & cowbell
www.ump.co.uk/burrell.htm

Christopher Fox
'A brief musical tribute to Harold Pinter, after the manner of his later work'
For 4 portable instruments
www.foxedition.co.uk

Performed by Roderick Chadwick, Laurence Crane, Kwezi Edeman, Mark Knoop, Matthew Shlomowitz & Cecilia Wee

In between sets, create some action art works by international artists - from changing the temperature of the room to repeat suicides, test your boundaries for visual arts practice with Rational Rec and Do-it. Create some at the Club or take some instructions home and send us your pictures.

New Rational Music was supported by The Hinrichsen Foundation.

 

Tuesday 9 January 2007
Rational Review of 2006
Curated by Cecilia Wee

Our annual Rational Rec event of the best film, talk and music from 2006.

Hector Castells
Graham Hudson in the Chelsea Art College Parade Ground
A 40 min documentary following sculptor Graham Hudson’s residency at the Chelsea College of Art & Design Parade Ground (April to Sept 2006).
With interviews from a host of art luminaries including gallerist Dave Hoyland, Sam Chatterton-Dickson of Flowers East, writer/philosopher Armen Avanessian, writer/curator Ben Borthwick and some rather bemused vox-poppers. Graham Hudson is represented by Rokeby Gallery: www.rokebygallery.com. More information at: www.chelsea.arts.ac.uk/graham-hudson. Hector Castells is a London-based filmmaker.  

Rational Review Panel discussion
Discussion focussing on what cultural thing or event from 2006 our audience and panel would most like to applaud, damn or question.

With:
Jason E Bowman - artist, independent curator and visual arts consultant: www.midwest.org.uk 
Ken Hollings – writer, broadcaster, lecturer: www.kenhollings.com
Gillian Moore – head of Contemporary Culture, South Bank Centre
Sally O’Reilly – art writer, critic and event organiser
Chaired by Cecilia Wee (Salon or Seminar, Resonance FM): www.ceciliawee.com

Music from 2006 with
Juha van ‘t Zelfde
Juha van 't Zelfde (NL, 1979) is a DJ, curator of adventurous music and creative consultant. As DJ he has performed at the Venice Biennale, Van Gogh Museum and Paradiso. As curator he organises the Amsterdam Museum Night and events at the Stedelijk Museum, Bimhuis and Lantaren/Venster, with artists including Jacob Kirkegaard, Vladislav Delay and Kode9.
www.juha.nl

 

Tuesday 5 December 2006
Celebrating 5 years of Artquest

Artquest is London's advice and information service for visual artists and craftspeople - who better to throw them a birthday party but Rational Rec?

Plus Minus performs
- Laurence Crane - Cello Piece for Michael Parsons
- Robert Ashley/Alex Waterman - In Memorium Esteban Gomez
- Christopher Fox - Generic Composition #7
- Matthew Shlomowitz - Slow Flipping Harmony
- John Cage - Five

Plus special guest Simon Bookish themed catering and a big, big cake by Shane Waltener.

 

Tuesday 7 November 2006
Working Men's Pub Quiz and Mixed Up Insects

Live artist Richard Dedomenici, a one-man subversive think-tank, will be our special quizmaster for The Working Men's Art Quiz. Richard is primarily dedicated to the development and implementation of innovative strategies designed to undermine accepted belief systems and topple existing power structures. More information is at www.dedomenici.co.uk

No pub quiz is complete without a picture round, and Rational Rec's Working Men's Art Quiz is no exception. So we can make sure your aesthetics are up to par, artists Dave Henningham (who also had this to say in his blog) and James Capper have created artworks with a function - but can you guess what these contraptions do?

Tip top prizes for the winning team and even some consolation prizes for the runners up, the Working Men's Art Quiz gives you a great chance to impress your friends and family with your encyclopaedic knowledge of music, visual art, film, experimental music and performance art. For the best chance of success, bring a team of experts who know about each area - we promise its going to be a tough one!

Helping out and playing some sets of their inimitable music are Mixed Up Insects - more information, downloads and the possibility of friendship available from http://www.myspace.com/themixedupinsects

 

Tuesday 3 October 2006
SEASON 2 FUNDRAISING MUSIC GALA

Rational Rec’s Season 2 launch features Contemporary classics that redefined attitudes towards instrumental composition, leading London experimental music figure, Brazilian-influenced swing, some tests of your listening skills, as well as games, ‘arty conversation with some friendly socialising’ (Time Out, Feb 2006) and cake.

Helmut Lachenmann -- Guero (1970) for scraping & plucking pianist

Vinko Globokar -- Corporel (1985) for body percussion

John Lely -- Desk Bells (2006)

Milhaud -- Scaramouche Suite (1936)

Tom Johnson -- Same or Different (2004)

PERFORMERS
Roderick Chadwick -- Claire Edwardes -- Mark Knoop -- Kerry Yong