EXPEDITION is a piece in five parts: each consists of a walk through the streets of Sheffield and a performance at Bank Street Arts.
All of the five walks are derived from journeys by renowned explorers (a different one every time) and impose the shape (but not the scale) of the adopted route upon a map of Sheffield – this serves as a basis for the course taken on the walk. On the walk sounds, images, thoughts, etc. are recorded. The documentation collected feeds into a piece which is developed over the following week and then performed at Bank Street.
Following each walk through Sheffield, Stephen Chase will present a performance using materials collected along the way and featuring special guest performers.
Walk 1 – Here be Dragons
“Here in the gallery I will show material from the first part of EXPEDITION held in December, “Ibn Fadlan meets the Vikings”, plans for the next venture, “Zheng He sails the Western Oceans”, and various material related to the project as a whole, including photographs, words and sounds contributed by fellow walkers and performers. The exhibition will gradually be assembled as the piece develops towards the walk and performance. Here be dragons…”
Walk 2 – Adventure on the High Seas
“Men & Women wanted for adventure on the high seas. Distant lands explored. Wonderous sights beheld. Savages encountered. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. For the honour of the fleet and the emperor…”
A walk into the unknown across Sheffield collecting sights, sounds, other stuff along the way. This is the second of 5 walks each following the route of a renowned expeditionary journey – part 2 will follow one of the seven Ming treasure fleet voyages led by eunuch admiral Zheng He surveying the shores of the Indian Ocean and the South China Seas in the early 16th century.
Walk 3 – Stanley Meets Livingstone
Following a walk through Sheffield imposing the shape of the route of a famous expeditionary journey Stephen Chase presents the third of five performances using materials collected along the way and featuring special guest performers.
For the third event the route followed the route of Henry Morton Stanley’s dubious quest to locate Dr David Livingstone – transposed onto the city of Sheffield.
Music, visuals, words, …
Walk 4 – Humboldt’s venture in the Equinoctial Regions
Following a walk through Sheffield imposing the shape of the route of a famous expeditionary journey Stephen Chase presents the fourth of five performances using materials, music, visuals, and words collected along the way.
For the fourth event the route followed the route of Humboldt’s’s venture in the Equinoctial Regions – transposed onto the city of Sheffield.
Plus, special guest Scott McLaughlin presents an exploration into the unpredictable resonant properties of metal…
Walk 5 – Friday 8th March, 8pm
Stephen Chase is a composer/sound artist/performer. His work veers erratically between conceptual and a-conceptual (following-his-nose) strategies whereby the interaction between performer, score and place draws attention to things such as the effects of physical limitations upon sound production, the influence of group interactions upon the shape of a work, and the acoustic characteristics of a space. He has collaborated variously with Music We’d Like to Hear, Ross Parfitt, Philip Thomas, Exaudi, Apartment House, Berlin’s Ensemble Zwischentöne, BBC Singers, Mick Beck, Coastguard All Stars, Husk, Gated Community, Damo Suzuki, omoplate sarangi, and murmuration. stephenchase.wordpress.com
Next walk: Saturday 26th January (meet 11am at Bank Street – bring notepads/cameras/sound recording devices, etc. to record the walk)
Next performance: Friday 1st February, 8pm
