Somerset House Podcast
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72 episodes
* Hannah Diamond reflects on the transformative powers of cute Cute aesthetics have exploded into pop culture. We use filters to make ourselves look like cute cats, dot our texts with hearts and smiley faces and our phones ping with alerts from cartoon animals reminding us to study French or change energy suppliers. Brands have been using cute images to sell us things since the dawn of advertising but with the rise of social media we are increasingly becoming the brand, as we seek to cutify our online and IRL selves. Over the last ten years the music collective and label PC Music have been playing with the aesthetics of pop music, internet culture and consumerism to suggest that artifice doesn’t need to be inauthentic. Artist and musician HANNAH DIAMOND is one of the founding members, known for her hyper-real, hyper-pop art direction and an ear for sugary hooks. For exhibition at Somerset House, Hannah was commissioned to curate a room in the style of a girl’s sleepover accompanied by a stream of music videos that embody the power of cute. In this episode we go deeper into the ways pop music and cuteness intersect, celebrating the ways plasticity can be liberating rather than limiting. Hannah talks to fellow label affiliate HAYDEN DUNHAM, the brains behind the Hey QT project, about self transformation through world building and Dazed journalist GUNSELI YALCINKAYA explains why the internet has such an enduring obsession with cute. , at Somerset House, 25 Jan - 14 Apr 2024. Principal Partner: Sanrio Producer - Alannah Chance Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott Series presenter - Laurent John
* What does it mean to use the voice of others within a performance, text or recording? In this episode of Not Strictly Speaking, we look at the ways in which the voice is used both in service of power, and as a way of reclaiming agency. PREM SAHIB’s new sound performance for Assembly, , takes a speech by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and renders it into a new form through layers of processing and repetition, suggesting the idea of a curse or malediction. Resisting the idea that one hostile voice can speak for the many, Prem explores how political rhetoric can speak on behalf of others, and take possession of bodies at a distance. Composer and sound artist FELICIA ATKINSON, who has composed the sound across the podcast series, considers the boundaries between thought and speech, looking at how recorded speech and text can intertwine. Felicia’s work with voice plays with space, distance and found sound, inviting the everyday into her recordings. In this episode, she discusses the role the voice plays within her work, the writers who live within her and how the recorded voice can be slippery and shapeshifting. by Prem Sahib was co-commissioned and presented by the Roberts Institute of Art https://www.therobertsinstituteofart.com/ and Somerset House Studios as part of Assembly, 2024. NOT STRICTLY SPEAKING SERIES The voice is the first sound we encounter and the first instrument we learn to play, we are subject to the disembodied voice of politicians while the communal voice is raised in protest. In conjunction with this year’s Assembly at Somerset House, this 3 part podcast series explores different manifestations of the voice and how it informs our ways of thinking. Each episode follows one artist featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack their work with the voice in dialogue with another artist. Vocalist and composer ELAINE MITCHENER is joined by the pioneer of extended vocal technique JOAN LA BARBARA to explore the voice as an instrument, looking at how the human voice can channel meaning without words. Artist PREM SAHIB plays with the shape shifting nature of political speech and its potential to inhabit other bodies alongside composer FELICIA ATKINSON on the mercurial nature of recording, while the vocal work of sound artist Vivienne Griffin is placed in dialogue with artist HELEN CAMMOCK on the concept of the voice as a site of resistance. The sound for the series is composed by French composer and sound artist Felicia Atkinson who crafts a series of bespoke sound commissions for each episode. COMMISSIONED BY SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS Producer - Alannah Chance Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott Series Composer - Felicia Atkinson Mix - Harry Murdoch
* The communal voice has a long history within the resistance movement, from African American spirituals, to the protest songs of the civil rights movement and the current pro-Palestine marches. In this episode we explore the enduring power of group singing and how it can embody resistance and resilience with Turner prize winning artist HELEN CAMMOCK and artist and Somerset House Studios resident, VIVIENNE GRIFFIN. Vivienne's sound work often centres around the voice, both her own and those of small choral ensembles. For their piece for Assembly they are drawing on the voice of the harp as a symbol of resistance within the history of British colonialism. The work will be performed by Northern Irish harpist Úna Monaghan alongside a mechanised harp created by Vivienne, who will together interpret a text score. Helen Cammock works across film, printmaking, performance and writing. Her work explores the role of the voice within the creation and maintenance of power structures as well as how the communal voice can subvert the dominant narratives of history. Here Helen unpacks how her work with communal voice has interrogated the idea of the voice as a site of resistance and the body as resilience. NOT STRICTLY SPEAKING SERIES The voice is the first sound we encounter and the first instrument we learn to play, we are subject to the disembodied voice of politicians while the communal voice is raised in protest. In conjunction with this year’s Assembly at Somerset House, this 3 part podcast series explores different manifestations of the voice and how it informs our ways of thinking. Each episode follows one artist featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack their work with the voice in dialogue with another artist. Vocalist and composer ELAINE MITCHENER is joined by the pioneer of extended vocal technique JOAN LA BARBARA to explore the voice as an instrument, looking at how the human voice can channel meaning without words. Artist PREM SAHIB plays with the shape shifting nature of political speech and its potential to inhabit other bodies alongside composer FELICIA ATKINSON on the mercurial nature of recording, while the vocal work of sound artist Vivienne Griffin is placed in dialogue with artist HELEN CAMMOCK on the concept of the voice as a site of resistance. The sound for the series is composed by French composer and sound artist Felicia Atkinson who crafts a series of bespoke sound commissions for each episode. COMMISSIONED BY SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS Producer - Alannah Chance Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott Series Composer - Felicia Atkinson Mix - Harry Murdoch
* The voice is something we all share and yet rarely do we explore the full range of our instrument. Ahead of ASSEMBLY https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/assembly-2024 at Somerset House we talk to two vocal artists who stretch the capacities of the voice as a sound producing instrument to look at the ways the voice can channel meaning beyond words; voice artist and composer ELAINE MITCHENER, who is resident at Somerset House Studios; and the pioneer of Extended Vocal Technique, the renowned vocal artist and composer JOAN LA BARBARA. Elaine’s vocal work looks at ways of speaking beyond language and explores moments of historical injustice through vocalisation and movement. In her piece for Assembly, 'These Cost The Earth', she explores the dynamics of waste consumerism, in particular the environmental and human impact of the clothes we send to landfill. She uses the Chairman’s Staircase in the New Wing at Somerset House as the site for a choreographed piece which articulates this destructive cycle, giving life to old clothes and evoking the journeys they have been on. The groundbreaking vocalist Joan La Barbara is one of the first artists to play with extended vocal technique, a technique which uses the voice as a sound producing instrument. As a performer she has worked with Cage, Feldman, Reich and Glass and as a composer and improviser she has been writing her own material since the 1970s. As one of the early pioneers of this form of vocal experimentation, we hear as Joan unpacks how she developed her instrument, her work with imaginary language and the idea of super presence in relation to performance. Not Strictly Speaking Series The voice is the first sound we encounter and the first instrument we learn to play, we are subject to the disembodied voice of politicians while the communal voice is raised in protest. In conjunction with this year’s Assembly at Somerset House, this 3 part podcast series explores different manifestations of the voice and how it informs our ways of thinking. Each episode follows one artist featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack their work with the voice in dialogue with another artist. Vocalist and composer ELAINE MITCHENER is joined by the pioneer of extended vocal technique JOAN LA BARBARA to explore the voice as an instrument, looking at how the human voice can channel meaning without words. Artist PREM SAHIB plays with the shape shifting nature of political speech and its potential to inhabit other bodies alongside composer FELICIA ATKINSON on the mercurial nature of recording, while the vocal work of sound artist Vivienne Griffin is placed in dialogue with artist HELEN CAMMOCK on the concept of the voice as a site of resistance. The sound for the series is composed by French composer and sound artist Felicia Atkinson who crafts a series of bespoke sound commissions for each episode. COMMISSIONED BY SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS Producer - Alannah Chance Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott Series Composer - Felicia Atkinson Mix - Harry Murdoch
* A three-part podcast series, released 20-22 March 2024, exploring different manifestations of the voice, produced in conjunction with Somerset House Studios' Assembly. Each episode follows artists featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack the power of the voice beyond speech; examining it as a form of possession and how we might give voice to the inanimate. Vocal artist and composer Elaine Mitchener looks at how the human voice can extend through objects and lay bare the inequities of global supply chains. Artist Prem Sahib plays with the shape shifting nature of political speech and its potential to inhabit other bodies, while sound artist Vivienne Griffin shares research centred on the concept of the harp as a voice of resistance. The sound for the series is composed by French artist Felicia Atkinson who crafts a series of bespoke sound commissions in response to the theme.
* Artists Revival Cohen & Tuur Van Balen explore how humans have transformed the animals that we live with. The way in which we think about animals is riven with contradictions. We dote on our pets yet consume vast amounts of animals as meat. The UK consistently donates more money to animal welfare charities than any other cause and yet have created pet breeds with horrifying health defects. Revival Cohen & Tuur Van Balen are an artist duo who are interested in these ambiguities, in particular the moment when animal bodies are transformed into objects of human desire. They’ve made work with thoroughbred race horses, bred their own batch of genetically modified goldfish and in 2023 they were the recipients of the UAL’s Creative Computing Institute x Somerset House Experimental Technology Fellowship 2023, offering a unique development and commission opportunity for an artist looking to incorporate new technology within their work. This resulted in a new film, for CHANNEL, our online space for art, process and ideas. In this episode of The Process we join them in the research process for their next work, which continues to explore a question central to their practice: can animal breeding be considered a form of sculpture? We talk to historian Michael Worboys about how the Victorians created the modern dog breed and writer and curator Filipa Ramos discusses how art has informed the way we think about the animal body. Revital & Tuur Van Belen were in residence at Somerset House Studios in 2023. was commissioned by Somerset House in collaboration with UAL Creative Computing Institute.
* The road to success is paved with inspirational quotes about failure. But could failure be more productive than success? In this episode of The Process we step inside the community of designers on site at Makerversity in Somerset House to explore the role of mistakes in the design process. Founding member Tom Stables talks to biomaterial designer Cassie Quinn, who makes sustainable sequins out of household waste. She shares stories of the mistakes that ended up being transformative to her practice. He then sits down with performance artist and clown Julia Masli to talk about her latest Edinburgh show which is designed to go wrong, to learn how to fail more spectacularly. THE PROCESS The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist or curator as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. Producer - Alannah Chance Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott Presenter - Tom Stables Series presenter - Laurent John
* Tracing the legacy of Black British fashion with Andrew Ibi, Jazzie B & Martine Rose. The late 80s to the early 90s saw a Black cultural renaissance in Britain. Artists and designers like Sonia Boyce, Joe Casely-Hayford and Soul II Soul were breaking new ground across the arts and changing the landscape for Black creatives. While putting together The Missing Thread exhibition, co-curator Andrew Ibi (Black Orientated Legacy Development Agency), realised that despite its significance this era hasn’t been given its due. In this episode of the Process, Andrew rectifies that, tracing the thread back to a lost generation of Black creatives to explore how Black fashion arose from the club and the back room sewing machine rather than the catwalk. Andrew looks back at that time with Jazzie B, whose group Soul II Soul soundtracked the era, and with cutting edge designer Martine Rose, who has worked with everyone from Drake to Kendrick and Balenciaga. THE PROCESS The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist or curator as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. CREDITS Produced by Alannah Chance Presented by Andrew Ibi Series presenter is Laurent John Sound Design by Nick Ryan The Missing Thread https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/the-missing-thread is sponsored by Morgan Stanley
* What if we’re approaching the crisis part of the crisis? We look at the effect our endless drive for productivity is having on the planet and how we’re intimately entangled with the natural world with Somerset House Studios artist Sam Williams on the invisible labour of the earthworm, poet Jason Allen-Paisant on tenderness in rural Jamaica, systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed on why the old systems are crumbling and artist Natalie Sharp on her love of ecosex. Soft Life: Experiments In New Ways of Being Soft Life is part of a growing number of movements challenging the way we work. How can soft approaches in art help us rethink our relationship to time, the body and the earth? In March 2020, the non-stop nature of our 24/7 world came to a stop. For many in the Western world, it allowed us a space to reconsider the way we value our time and with that our relationship to work. Now, amidst the strikes and the resignations, a new movement is emerging called ‘Soft Life’. which seeks to sidestep the values of hustle culture for slowness and ease. How can softness open up new ways of being in the world and create different types of value? Could it be a way of healing our relationship with the natural world at a point of crisis? In this four-part series we take the idea of ‘soft life’ as a launch off point to explore alternative ideas around work, time, the body and ecology emanating from Somerset House and beyond. We talk to radical thinkers, artists and writers, who are carving out these new ways of being in the body, centring the soft and the in-between, finding space for rest and looking at ways of expanding time beyond the clock. SOFT LIFE IS PRODUCED BY ALANNAH CHANCE AND AXEL KACOUTIÉ WITH SOUND BY AXEL KACOUTIÉ AND ADDITIONAL MUSIC BY ELLEN ZWEIG
* How can the soft body challenge social hierarchies? We turn our gaze towards the soft life of the body and unpack new ways of thinking about embodiment in artistic practice with Somerset House studios artists Florence Peake on radical softness in somatics, choreographer and writer Dr Martin Hargreaves on the history of protest through softness in dance, Ilona Sagar on rendering bodies hard through architecture and disabled film maker Jameisha Prescod on the colonial history of black pain. Soft Life: Experiments In New Ways of Being Soft Life is part of a growing number of movements challenging the way we work. How can soft approaches in art help us rethink our relationship to time, the body and the earth? In March 2020, the non-stop nature of our 24/7 world came to a stop. For many in the Western world, it allowed us a space to reconsider the way we value our time and with that our relationship to work. Now, amidst the strikes and the resignations, a new movement is emerging called ‘Soft Life’. which seeks to sidestep the values of hustle culture for slowness and ease. How can softness open up new ways of being in the world and create different types of value? Could it be a way of healing our relationship with the natural world at a point of crisis? In this four-part series we take the idea of ‘soft life’ as a launch off point to explore alternative ideas around work, time, the body and ecology emanating from Somerset House and beyond. We talk to radical thinkers, artists and writers, who are carving out these new ways of being in the body, centring the soft and the in-between, finding space for rest and looking at ways of expanding time beyond the clock. Produced by Alannah Chance and Axel Kacoutié
* How can we make time free? We contemplate different ways of experiencing time beyond the linear, with Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha on transforming time through the practice of listening, sociologist Judy Wajcman on unpicking progress from speed in the digital sphere and psychologist Dr Ruth Ogden on how our experience of time is relational and whether it’s possible to conceive of ‘free time’ in a modern world. Soft Life: Experiments In New Ways of Being Soft Life is part of a growing number of movements challenging the way we work. How can soft approaches in art help us rethink our relationship to time, the body and the earth? In March 2020, the non-stop nature of our 24/7 world came to a stop. For many in the Western world, it allowed us a space to reconsider the way we value our time and with that our relationship to work. Now, amidst the strikes and the resignations, a new movement is emerging called ‘Soft Life’. which seeks to sidestep the values of hustle culture for slowness and ease. How can softness open up new ways of being in the world and create different types of value? Could it be a way of healing our relationship with the natural world at a point of crisis? In this four-part series we take the idea of ‘soft life’ as a launch off point to explore alternative ideas around work, time, the body and ecology emanating from Somerset House and beyond. We talk to radical thinkers, artists and writers, who are carving out these new ways of being in the body, centring the soft and the in-between, finding space for rest and looking at ways of expanding time beyond the clock. SOFT LIFE IS PRODUCED BY ALANNAH CHANCE AND AXEL KACOUTIÉ With sound by Axel Kacoutié and additional music by Ellen Zweig
* Our ways of working aren’t working. How can art offer new ways of being outside of the values of hustle culture? We explore changing attitudes to work post-pandemic and re-evaluate the importance of rest as a creative space. We hear from Bayo Akomolafe about the fertile spaces of the cracks, Black Power Naps on rest as a radical act and we lie down to contemplate art in Somerset House with artist Raquel Meseguer Zafe, after her workshop for this year’s Hyper Functional Ultra Healthy programme. Produced by Alannah Chance
* A NEW LIMITED SERIES FOR THE SOMERSET HOUSE PODCAST SOFT LIFE IS PART OF A GROWING NUMBER OF MOVEMENTS CHALLENGING THE WAY WE WORK. HOW CAN SOFT APPROACHES IN ART HELP US RETHINK OUR RELATIONSHIP TO TIME, THE BODY AND THE EARTH? In March 2020, the non-stop nature of our 24/7 world came to a stop. For many in the Western world, it allowed us a space to reconsider the way we value our time and with that our relationship to work. Now, amidst the strikes and the resignations, a new movement is emerging called ‘Soft Life’. which seeks to sidestep the values of hustle culture for slowness and ease. How can softness open up new ways of being in the world and create different types of value? Could it be a way of healing our relationship with the natural world at a point of crisis? In this four-part series we take the idea of ‘soft life’ as a launch off point to explore alternative ideas around work, time, the body and ecology emanating from Somerset House and beyond. We talk to radical thinkers, artists and writers, who are carving out these new ways of being in the body, centring the soft and the in-between, finding space for rest and looking at ways of expanding time beyond the clock. Soft Life is produced by Alannah Chance and Axel Kacoutié With sound by Axel Kacoutié and additional music by Ellen Zweig
* ARTIST LEILA DEAR EXPLORES WHETHER GEOMETRY COULD BE A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE What do our attempts to communicate with extra-terrestrials say about us? Jerwood artist in residence, Leila Dear uses geometry as a way of thinking about interdependence and non-human design. In this episode of The Process she explores whether geometry could be used as a ‘Lingua Cosmica’, a universal language by which to communicate with other intelligences beyond earth. Given the prevalence of geometric patterning within the natural world and the universal limitations of physics, could geometry provide a way of relating to other minds without preferencing our own? She puts the idea to Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI institute (the Search for Extra-terrestrial Life) who is sure we will find evidence of aliens within the next 20 years. This led Leila to reflect on the other forms of mind we already share the earth with. She is joined by science writer Philip Ball to discuss how a better understanding of animal and plant intelligence might help us de-centre the human. THE PROCESS The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. We hear their journey from the studio on, as they invite other thinkers to discuss an idea that has come out of a work in progress and help shape where it might go next. Producer: Alannah Chance Series Presenter: Laurent John Theme music: Ka Baird Additional music: Aylu http://manarecords.com/016 (Mana Records) Lord Tusk https://lordtusk.bandcamp.com/ Mastered by: Nick Ryan Produced as part of the Creators Programme 2022 Supported by The Rothschild Foundation
* The artist LIBBY HEANEY spent many years as a quantum physicist researching the concept of quantum entanglement, the way objects can affect each other even when separated by vast distances, or what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’. It’s an idea that challenges our assumptions about the physical world and for Libby it offers up fertile ways of rethinking old hierarchies. In this podcast we take up this mystery and dance with it, seeing where metaphors of entanglement can take us. Firstly Libby talks to biologist SUSANNE WEDLICH about slime and how this shape shifting substance can help us get closer to the quantum world. She then sits down with deep listener and dream expert IONE, the partner and lifelong collaborator of Deep listening pioneer Pauline Oliveros. IONE and Libby meditate on how a practice of quantum listening can entangle us with both the physical and the metaphysical world, including a connection beyond death. - LIBBY HEANEY is a London based artist with a PhD in Quantum Physics, who works across moving image, performance, installation and physical media, usually combining these with advanced technologies such as machine learning, game engines & quantum computing - a new type of computer that processes information on particles following the weird laws of quantum physics. Heaney is widely known as the first person to make art with quantum computers. Her artwork Ent-, commissioned by Light Art Space, 2022, has been exhibited across continents and received substantial international press in places like Der Welt, Wallpaper* and Spike Art. Before retraining as an artist at Central St. Martins, London, Heaney completed a PhD in Quantum Information Science at the Uninversity of Leeds and led her own research at the University of Oxford, publishing around 20 papers on the topic of quantum entanglement. She won the HSBC and Intitute of Physics, UK, Very Early Career Woman Physicist of the year in 2008. - THE PROCESS The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. We hear their journey from the studio on, as they invite other thinkers to discuss an idea that has come out of a work in progress and help shape where it might go next. Producer: Alannah Chance Series Presenter: Laurent John Theme music: Ka Baird Additional music: Pauline Oliveros and IONE, Aylu http://manarecords.com/016 (Mana Records) Carmen Jaci https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/r/HCocEe7aNqhdCknwuSLAZFrcuWXHQybXbh6GqchmA3hkU6iiNrmCfBkYIcp03n48yVQe6aRn7TWv-Z_mVaHWKz6vYOkVAOibX_nVnHCeKOUZSDhARonpSww4mZ6s96mFNnQp0cp8T_hoX7HOTt03GF5qzacHmQsqk4R2YqHNSZkriKiO74Q6gDbQs-7rMKEIoR40AkW-hKRzVnXY_UYl3L7xmk-3ErunCDN4x8PMpjRhlKejVWOJTWZo6dADD-NIV8Chjh2Cx2_BfR3Mo01pm1BmBapeHYjT5VvBoxaXN0ny3Ku6VppdNpi0dQMLwH3i1AtbgagWvxm3xYF_801RUejBYi0nklSdp0zL5m95tromYegqsvOvuOklgZ5KEGQ_qStxDpQIif3-FVaTinW_fTHVpF9BVNPR0ZMRmnN7ZbZG86u5Z5u3AgzmyByN-nAgfGzU3Lbm5NPJQEeoN2qFTWZHZXmSUPxWVTODLCcrxuvqdb3uv0DVK6Y1IOUQORvzLz-zjoIzw4i4fGKJuMANuDa_sP6MH2B_mTn2z-yu9bLZOjR9i2T_R3oF_mwspIr-CQS89x0zB-yYXTpzU2IsyyFvYkNqEw5bldEJuUGjOdK9BYECyyzABQ2LMgg4Xy1k3tT-5OJmP_rzbysoL3adU9fqEx9YVgQU9EuHX_jbxKCgtIjJ5OTY8BcG6x2yWMQMBE27-UYTyTM2teNS4yLeyKZnEkvhVKEGOS61cKvmHk802xX3y57AaHl9KveDx1FTT8gB0rexjxm3ZeK0VhMwmRZbazBTG09u_7z-K797cws628SE4OB1XZHkdHr-tP8_LTi991ADoIRx5uwNC0gRHfV1QrG2jOJahQJmjjtjTeSyl39Sv2WUxCfR_lxFVMN0Rr1Jmx9yFDca2mNfFXArCAi0H3wNORk0kTanac3vONWTO5v_SFg0-OwxQjJPJxl58Q8NIDQplZWzZhD2Pyt0faM7WsoF3NwDoAj0Az1UpqDcHhso1x_3PtJhb6zKSKJBmE0GkvC0Zl5N_Gh4AoD7EmRiF7FHxP1AqaHYj3gj7jcfBoFRn3Ne9xDtNQxepb1Pu0ceKFbWck8HV-ERHZreQgA-y5aKHAscinqxpG5BIxCKBaXul93TymireUJ4MSC7i42GxCIiZz6uYx190cYodnBLtLv3d4ZwlPevGnKSgBZ3I8R0lp4GFKHgPzWlp31_7DvVriCy3hRMzY5CLcA66CXMB0WM2KHXggYMzK_QPB6w5pd6YtfO-PfqSJum6BweKNpb6cK7zlJMBJk8GTcjWUnc0vh2W7zx5ruWp9D5pJ-g5MYIsw9EpHgEEaCO8AmyaMfBufPub5-wA8Z4C_a5OL1TUkl22rjDR-J60up_ZxyagGajQhN72p78SRBEEzVcuXrs8zibFupXiqZI1NESjj8_9NqCe5KNvBa9ox9AKOFKEKSX_IxEiJGf8InESZg9yxmUVv_duNfYTcErYjZQwh1EwRP9xK5oCI29Nwx-FCkQErwEOhHYEcvlOFKoU2Lv_NJtIrBPDq0wzIiTc-V3Sy3PKwmacNTxau411ArzA1W3IYQLrHPRj3k0RpmoLE2Lqr597vDKK1mD2RtUrFKWDY6mDXLg1D-PlgIgKOql41yOgTmsvenVkYME4D85Y9YTr5xLFuY0G_mp3XZUkQpBZqvuWAIC1uYREywrx_Qs6z4GoRLTsx6VBr5DNG8JMUeoz1pOGvwYnMemF5oISDSQm2MgpyPZOAjV0LhbQPgTL3JyjlYmY1oA4V0ZtzJZD8dHL63U3LZx7D2XD5zVf9ymXXjmx6-SIBJ904tl-5B4dk3BzMXT8FneNrbmZKPlSiO8VGG7cKo2S4Pi7h7CKBwADDZqVzLvllh6pQUoenF336eaXbx4g1veo-CavHfLrqsj9qjXpJ_OBWfEN2RaynRe00qfdvhIdCgabgNGj_MRo24CTjx1fMyx2Il4sWrkOHmzgli3c2ralmHaqYbpl2tavr2HoTMFSw0bErqSMJpx1lE and Irama Gema Mastered by: Nick Ryan Produced as part of the Creators Programme 2022 Supported by The Rothschild Foundation
* Film maker MORGAN QUAINTANCE is interested in what AI can teach us about being human. For his commission for our digital platform Channel, he set out to explore divergent cultural attitudes to AI between the UK and Japan. But when he started putting out requests for interviews, he was met with a wall of silence. Public institutions, AI developers, robotics companies and schools all seemed unwilling to reply and the film couldn't be made. Frustrated about the stonewalling he'd experienced, he started to think more about the process and what this says about the development of AI. Why was there such overwhelming silence from companies developing this technology? What does this say about some of the moral questions that go into its formation? Morgan is joined by The Guardian’s tech journalist Alex Hern and AI artist Nouf Aljowaysir to try to find out. Morgan Quaintance is a London-based artist and writer. His moving image work has been shown and exhibited widely at festivals and institutions including: MOMA, New York; Mcevoy Foundaton for the Arts, San Francisco; Konsthall C, Sweden; David Dale, Glasgow; European Media Art Festival, Germany; Alchemy Film and Arts Festival, Scotland. Over the past ten years, his critically incisive writings on contemporary art, aesthetics and their socio-political contexts, have featured in publications including Art Monthly, the Wire, and the Guardian, and helped shape the landscape of discourse and debate in the UK. THE PROCESS The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. We hear their journey from the studio on, as they invite other thinkers to discuss an idea that has come out of a work in progress and help shape where it might go next. Producer: Alannah Chance Series Presenter: Laurent John Theme music: Ka Baird Additional music: Harry Murdoch Mastered by: Nick Ryan Produced as part of the Creators Programme 2022 Supported by The Rothschild Foundation
* Elizabeth Bernholtz, aka GAZELLE TWIN, has had paranormal experiences since her early childhood. Ever since she’s been both terrified and thrilled by the occult, gripped by stories of poltergeist possession and famous hauntings. Fresh off the back of her commission for at Somerset House, Gazelle Twin is getting back into the writing process for her next album which explores her long held fascination with ghosts. We join her as she considers what it would mean to take these stories seriously and to harness her fear as a creative fuel. She talks to artist MARK LECKEY, also inspired by the supernatural, about how he uses samples as a form of haunting and how art can be a form of self-exorcism. Ghost hunter INNES SMITH helps unpack the hauntings she experienced in her childhood home. THE PROCESS The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. We hear their journey from the studio on, as they invite other thinkers to discuss an idea that has come out of a work in progress and help shape where it might go next. Producer: Alannah Chance Series Presenter: Laurent John Theme music: Ka Baird Mastered by: Nick Ryan Produced as part of the Creators Programme 2022 Supported by The Rothschild Foundation
* The creative process is inspired by worlds beyond itself. The Somerset House podcast series 'The Process' brings those worlds together, platforming the big conversations which go on to inspire new work. Drawing on our creative community on site and from the exhibition programme, each episode follows one artist as they explore an idea from their practice to see where it ends up. We hear their journey from the studio on, as they invite other thinkers to discuss an idea that has come out of a work in progress and help shape where it might go next. In this second series we take a turn for the unexplained, starting with a ghost story from musician GAZELLE TWIN, who explores how art can be a form of exorcism with artist MARK LECKEY. Film maker MORGAN QUAINTANCE reflects a recent film that couldn't be made and examines the culture of secrecy in AI. Artist LEILA DEAR asks how geometry can help us communicate with life on other planets and studios resident LIBBY HEANEY explores quantum entanglement, through the prism of slime and deep listening. Producer: Alannah Chance Series Presenter: Laurent John Mastered by: Nick Ryan Produced as part of the Creators-in-Residence Programme 2022 Supported by The Rothschild Foundation
* Roller skating is having a moment. Instagram videos of roller skaters doing synchronised dances went viral over lockdown and inspired a new generation to get on four wheels. Somerset House Studios artist TYREIS HOLDER was one of them. She discovered skating during lockdown and in her words, it saved her life. In this episode of the Process, Tyreis joins the dots between her art practice, poetry and her love of skating, tracing its history within the black community in London. She heads out to Hyde Park to talk to artist and coach Marilyn Fontaine, part of an older generation of black skaters in London who shares how skating has been transformative in her life and was integral to the development of underground music and fashion through the 80s. In a candid and personal conversation, Tyreis and Marilyn share how skating has helped them navigate intergenerational trauma and gain a sense of freedom, inspiring Tyreis to invite her own family to get on four wheels to begin a process of healing. * * Additional music in this episode is by Dialgo, D.A.H Trump and Siddhartha Corsus * - THE PROCESS * * * We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. * * Producer: Alannah Chance * Series Presenter: Laurent John * Exec Producer: Eleanor Scott * Theme music is by Ka Baird * Additional music by Harry Murdoch * Mastered by: Nick Ryan * Produced as part of the Creators-in-Residence Programme 2021 * Supported by The Rothschild Foundation *
* COL SELF grew up as a child playing on the sites of the new age traveller community in the 1990s. After the passing of the criminal justice bill and the crackdown on the travelling community that came with it, it started to become clear to her what a unique moment in British history she had lived through. Now, as a resident artist at Somerset House Studios, her practice continues to probe the boundaries of private and public space, searching for liminal domains which exist outside the grasp of late stage capitalism. But are there any common spaces left in the UK where we are truly outside of private ownership? Col sits down with writer and activist NICK HAYES to talk about the power of trespass, the last of the commons and why he thinks the river could be the ultimate liminal space. * * Additional music in this episode is by Pamela Z, the Spore collective, Frances Young and 011668 * - THE PROCESS * * * We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. Producer: Alannah Chance * Series Presenter: Laurent John * Exec Producer: Eleanor Scott * Theme music: Ka Baird Additional Sound Design: Harry Murdoch * Mastered by: Nick Ryan * Produced as part of the Creators-in-Residence Programme 2021 * Supported by The Rothschild Foundation
* Somerset House Studios resident ANNA MEREDITH is a composer who takes writing playful music seriously. But her process is anything but reckless. Over the summer she set herself a challenge, to write a series of compositions for bumper cars which would be installed in the courtyard of Somerset House for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvXn7EcOO4s. Tunes would be triggered when the bumper cars bumped. But this posed some tricky questions. How can you control the structure of the composition when the audience is in the driving seat? Who is the composer here, Anna or the drivers? Anna sits down with her studio neighbour NICK RYAN, who has been working at the forefront of interactive music, to hear about where this genre might be headed before talking to games designer NICK MORAN to hear how to organise fun. * * Additional music in this episode is by Anna Meredith and Emahoy Tsegué-maryam Guèbrou. - THE PROCESS * * * We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. Producer: Alannah Chance * Series Presenter: Laurent John * Exec Producer: Eleanor Scott * Theme music: Ka Baird Additional Sound Design: Harry Murdoch * Mastered by: Nick Ryan * Produced as part of the Creators-in-Residence Programme 2021 * Supported by The Rothschild Foundation * *
* * * SHIRAZ BAYJOO is a Mauritian artist living in London whose practice explores how language and identity in the Indian Ocean have been shaped by the legacy of European colonialism in the region. In a commission for an exhibition at Somerset House, Shiraz explored different perspectives on the plantation system, and it’s structures of extraction and subjugation. The exhibition traced the complex interrelations between today’s climate crisis and the legacies of colonialism. We joined Shiraz in his studio at the stage where he was putting the finishing touches to the installation, which brings together ceramics, textiles, sculpture and archive photos to re-dignify the people affected by the legacies of empire. He is joined by activist and theorist FRANÇOISE VERGES, born in La Reunion, to discuss strategies of survival and resistance in the region. * * Additional music in this episode is by Alain Peters, Menwar and Roger George. - THE PROCESS * * * We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. Producer: Alannah Chance * Series Presenter: Laurent John * Exec Producer: Eleanor Scott * Theme music: Ka Baird Additional Sound Design: Harry Murdoch * Mastered by: Nick Ryan * Produced as part of the Creators-in-Residence Programme 2021 * Supported by The Rothschild Foundation *
* WHAT IS FINANCIAL ASTROLOGY? * * Somerset House Studios artist GARY ZHEXI ZHANG is interested in exploring the chimeric edges of global systems. Recently his research has taken him into the world of finance, where he’s been drawn to the sorts of speculative ways of thinking we might normally associate with the occult. Enter Financial Astrology, a way of forecasting the markets based on the positions of the cosmos. In this episode of The Process, Gary goes down the rabbit hole to try to understand this area and why cryptocurrency in particular is so obsessed with the stars. He hears about some seismic events on the horizon from CHRISTEEN SKINNER, a financial astrologist who has been working in the City of London for over 20 years and talks to social anthropologist and former equity fund manager, PHILIP GRANT about how ideas of magic and finance overlap. * - THE PROCESS * * * We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. *
* BREAKING THE RULES FEATURING ANDY HOLDEN & MARK MCGOWAN * * * * ANDY HOLDEN grew up with one foot in Bedford and one foot in Beano-town, the fictional town from the Beano full of semi-detached houses and fractious families. As the curator of the exhibition at Somerset House, Andy became immersed in the comic’s world of childlike anarchy and rebellion. Now, as he shakes off his cartoon limbs and returns to being fully human, he wonders what can he take from the spirit of the Beano into his next endeavour? How can you keep bending the rules while avoiding being predictable? Is performance art the most effective way of inspiring change? Andy heads out to talk to performance artist MARK MCGOWAN, aka the artist taxi driver, about performance, politics and the power of persona, all from the back of a black cab. - THE PROCESS * * * We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 100 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. *
* COMING SOON: THE PROCESS A brand new six-part podcast series, takes listeners behind the scenes with some of today’s most exciting creatives on their journey to create new works. Available from 16 February 2022. We’re used to experiencing the work of an artist in its final form - in the gallery, on the stage, or mixed on an album. But what has been the journey to get there? Somerset House is home to a community of over 70 artists and makers. (And by extension, it is often the home for the artistic process too), with much of the work we present being conceived and made in the building, from start to finish. * * This podcast goes behind the scenes on that process with the artists themselves. Each episode explores one big idea emerging from a work in progress and follows the thread, from the artists’ initial inspiration, through the cross section of thinkers who helped them get there, to hear the form it might take next. * * Curator Andy Holden and performance artist Mark McGowan talk politics and performance from the back of a taxi, artist and writer Gary Zhexi Zhang delves into the world of financial astrology, and La Réunion born activist Françoise Verges and Mauritian artist Shiraz Bayjoo discuss survival and resistance in relation to colonialism in the Indian Ocean region. * is produced by Alannah Chance as part of the Creators in Residence Programme, supported by The Rothschild Foundation.
