BUST is a series of audiovisual vignettes by artist Emily Pope, considering the economy through the lens of satirical memoir. Drawing on the character of the stand-up comic and visuals from karaoke lyric videos, this instalment looks at, amongst other things, the indie sleaze era, living with friends, olympic redevelopment in London and the launch of Monzo, with its £1000 overdraft facility.
This event is part of our current exhibition, Discord & Harmony – a group show which brings together works by contemporary artists who share Beryl Cook’s radically generous approach to representing everyday life.
Emily Pope (b. 1990, London) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans moving image, radio, printmaking, performance, installation and publishing. She uses incisive humour, satire and political rhetoric to critically engage with histories of broadcast media to reflect on contemporary life under austerity. Since 2016, her ongoing project The Sitcom Show positions the failed sitcom as a site for political commentary, staging everyday life within shifting conditions of class struggle, lesbian identity and intersectional feminist thought. In 2020 she was artist in residence at The Box and made the film One In Every Village, interweaving Dartmoor mythology with anecdotes and memories of growing up in Plymouth.
KARST is excited to be hosting a free participatory reading group and conversation with Paloma Proudfoot and Jordan Baseman as part of Rame Projects’ “I Hadn’t Finished Talking To You Yet” programme. This series of events is designed to bring people together to explore the complexities of grief and bereavement.
The reading group and discussion will respond to the question “do the dead gossip?” as posed by Holly Pester in her essay ‘A Charm of Powerful Trouble’. With this as a starting point, the session will be an opportunity to explore different notions of sound and the dead, particularly how ‘conversations’ could unfold with the dead outside of the formalities of language.
Paloma Proudfoot will open the event, introducing her own work and how the ideas explored in the shared reading relate to her current practice. This will be followed by a discussion of Pester’s text, as well as excerpts from Anne Carson’s ‘The Gender of Sound’ and Francis McKee’s ‘Even the Dead Rise Up’. To conclude, recordings of ritual laments and music relating to these ideas will be shared. Participants are encouraged (but not obliged) to contribute to a corresponding playlist which will be shared ahead of the event.
Please get in touch with rameprojectscornwall@gmail.com to let the organisers know how they can support your participation in the event, or if there is any information that it would be helpful for them to know – for example, allergies, access requirements, etc.
Click here to book.
Alastair and Fleur Mackie will be in conversation with KARST’s Head of Programme, Ben Borthwick, discussing their show Projected Outcomes.
About the artists
Alastair and Fleur (b. 1977, UK & Cameroon) met at art school in London in the late 90s, and over time their work has evolved into a close collaboration. In 2011, they moved to North Cornwall, the landscape of which has played a central part in shaping their vocabulary. The duo have exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, including shows at the Busan Museum of Modern Art and the Reykjavik Art Museum. They have worked on a number of public commissions, and their work is held in collections including The Eres Foundation in Munich and the Wellcome Collection in London.
KARST and SOAK are proud to present an evening of live performance to celebrate our current exhibition ‘Jalsaghar’ by Debjani Banerjee, which translates from Bengali as “The Music Room”. This event draws inspiration from the exhibition’s themes to create a collaborative space for cultural expression across multiple art forms – featuring Bharatanatyam dance, historic sound archives, spoken word and music by artists Sadhna Lakshmi Ventakesh, Paul Purgas, Arun Sood and guests.
Tickets are £5 – £15. All tickets on the door will be £10. Book here.
Join us for an exhibition walkthrough and talk with Debjani Banerjee and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop’s Curator of Research, Dan Brown.
Debjani Banerjee is an Edinburgh-based artist whose diverse body of work spans various mediums, including sculpture, textiles, performance, dance, film, and participatory collaborative making. Her artistic practice challenges reductive dualisms often found in post-colonial narratives, such as the dichotomies of Indian versus Western, White versus Brown, and Male versus Female. By doing so, Banerjee’s work aims to present more nuanced and playful representations of cultural plurality, contemporary South Asian womanhood, and the broader human experience.
Dan Brown is a curator and occasional artist whose career has been defined by the development of artists and the advancement and dissemination of contemporary art. He currently holds the position of Curator of Research at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, a renowned centre for production, research, and learning. Brown’s previous roles include Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland and Visual Arts Advisor to both the Scottish Arts Council (2009–2011) and Creative Scotland. Additionally, he served as Co-Director of Embassy Gallery from 2006 to 2008, an influential artist-run gallery in Edinburgh, and is a co-founder of the Shift/Work programme, a participatory research initiative aimed at recalibrating artistic learning to foster new knowledge.
Plymouth was momentarily front page of the national news this summer after far-right anti-immigrant protesters gathered in the city intent on violent confrontation with the state. It was part of a season of disorder across the country and a signal of the deeper cultural malaise that has revealed itself as a feature of our national life in 2024.
As part of the New Contemporaries Public Programme and Plymouth Art Weekender, Radical Ecology will be bringing people together on 19 October (9.30am-4pm) at KARST including migrant support workers and youth workers from across the city as well as contemporary artists and cultural workers.
Discussion will focus on what’s been happening in Plymouth (and elsewhere) and explore what role art has in relation to these events, asking how the city is responding through its cultural strategy to heal division and serve as a driving force for change.
To conclude The Joyous Thing #5, on Saturday morning artist Rhys Morgan leads a performance by LGBTQIA+ sea shanty choir Seaweed in the Fruit Locker at The Lions Den, followed by a sea swim.
Seaweed in the Fruit Locker are an LGBTQIA+ sea shanty choir formed by artist Rhys Morgan to explore collective performance in marginalised communities through the tradition of shanty singing. The choir will be performing a selection of new and traditional shanties which have been rewritten by the choir to reflect their own queer lived experience, often inspired by existing queer narratives within sea faring heritage and using the gay slang language Polari.
Bacon or veggie butties and tea/coffee will be provided for the swimmers by Minerva cafe.
NikNak presents a relaxed Turntablism workshop at Leadworks specifically for LGBTQIA+ People of Colour who also identify as female, trans and non-binary designed to give participants the confidence to play the music they want without fear or anxiety.
NikNak says: “there continues to be a lack of authentic diversity and representation in line-ups in electronic music, especially where DJ-ing is concerned”
NikNak is an artist known for her creative and boundary-breaking work, who has gained worldwide recognition with her unusual albums, remixes, and engaging performances. In 2020, she made history as the first Black turntablist to receive the prestigious Oram Award. Not limited to any one genre or role, NikNak is a composer, sound designer, DJ, and electronic artist. With multiple releases, collaborations, and live shows, NikNak stands out for her unique style. Featured in various publications as a rising star, NikNak continues to advance the boundaries of sound innovation with her complex and singular approach to turntables and spatial music production.
This workshop is specifically for LGBTQIA+ People of Colour who also identify as female, trans and non-binary. To book your place, email info@karst.org.uk.
In this introductory workshop with Dali de Saint Paul, you will play with exercises and improvisation techniques, and listen to examples from the history of experimental sound and music, exploring the voice as a musical, communal, and political instrument, and how multiple voices can interact in the context of improvisation.
Dali De Saint Paul is a prolific collaborator and a prominent figure in Bristol’s improvised music scene who likes to explore musical dialogues with musicians across different genres. Over 6 years, her improvised project EP/64 involved more than 40 musicians and visual artists across 64 concerts. Described as having a ‘raw vocal style’, Dali is completely self-taught as a vocalist and a musician.
The workshop lasts for 1 hour approx. No experience or musical training is required. Tickets are free but booking is recommended to reserve a space.
Click here to book
NikNak is an artist known for her creative and boundary-breaking work, who has gained worldwide recognition with her unusual albums, remixes, and engaging performances. In 2020, she made history as the first Black turntablist to receive the prestigious Oram Award. Not limited to any one genre or role, NikNak is a composer, sound designer, DJ, and electronic artist. With multiple releases, collaborations, and live shows, NikNak stands out for her unique style. Featured in various publications as a rising star, NikNak continues to advance the boundaries of sound innovation with her complex and singular approach to turntables and spatial music production.
I AM FYA has been mesmerising audiences across the UK and beyond with her distinctive collision of live sample manipulation, experimental yet soulful vocals, and full spectrum sonic arrangements. Her performance has recently been described as “Barbadian bass science and undefinable grandeur”.
This event is part of The Joyous Thing #5. In partnership with Outlands, KARST presents a weekend of experimental music and performance in Plymouth. The Joyous Thing #5 is an opportunity to experience talking, dancing, singing and socialising together. Together, we will explore the connected themes of collaboration, mutual support, and equality of access — centred around the vital question: how do we continue to keep things Joyous?
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General admission: £9 | Concession: £6
*Concession tickets can be purchased by students with a valid student ID and people receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Disability Benefits and Income Support/Job Seekers allowance.
