A panel discussion with Ben Borthwick, KARST’s head of Creative Programme and Paula Orrell, coordinator, Visual Arts South West using the framework provided by Speedwell – an Arts Council England and Plymouth Culture commission made by artist’s collective Still/Moving. The work was a response to the complexity of commemorating the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower: challenging accepted histories, behaviours and knowledge systems offers the possibility in this moment to consider, design and activate ‘new’ forms of ‘worlding’.

Artist and performer Dustin Ericksen brings Light, observed to a close with his Finissage Event ‘The eye ain’t heard, the ear ain’t seen’. With banjo and synthesiser, Ericksen will create improvisational music.

The musical aspect of the performance will be interfered with by two outside elements. First, the photography and light of Damian Griffiths, will trigger changes in the synthesised sound. Simultaneously, Ericksen will attempt to give a didactic explanation of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes the light we see, and other wavelengths, like x-rays and microwaves.

8pm, 12 Nov 2019

An original audio-visual collaboration between Japanese psych band @qujaku_jpn and UK visual artists @impatv.

Developed during a residency in Japan in June 2019, this new production explores ideas of duality. Sound triggers light that in turn creates form via an amalgam of heavy, rhythmic ambience combined with visual projections, lighting and stage design. The resulting union will unfurl as an expansive spectacle to stimulate the senses. Special guests @group_a_band open each night of the tour with a spectacular new AV set.

Ensō – a circular symbol hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. Sone – a unit of loudness; how loud a sound is perceived. Ensō Sone expresses a freedom to create loudness, which marks the starting point for this exciting new collaboration. Further ideas from Japanese Zen practice; of oneness, natural opposites and equilibrium, the spirit of harmonious cooperation, the visible and the invisible, absolute fullness in emptiness, simplicity, completeness, and endlessness are explored.

Co-commissioned by Visual Arts Plymouth CIC and KARST, Lockdown Tarot is a new fortune-telling performance by John Walter using a brand-new deck of cards that he drew during lockdown using the VR software Tilt Brush. This new tarot deck features images from Walter’s repertoire including allusions to art history, popular culture and politics. Lockdown Tarot responds to the current Covid-19 emergency using Walter’s trademark colour, humour and absurdity. Lockdown Tarot is composed of a minor arcana of four suits – the antibodies, vaccines, receptors and masks – and a higher arcana of 22 picture cards. The tarot is an algorithm, a repertoire of 78 images that can be shuffled and arranged into an infinite range of narrative sequences, and an ideal container for Walter’s epic, maximalist aesthetic. Lockdown Tarot demonstrates Walter’s approach to using hospitality as a device for engaging audiences in his ideas and images. The costume that he wears is a form of drag that is jestered as opposed to gendered. Audiences are empowered to ask him and the tarot anything. This leads to memorable and transformative conversations between strangers.

John Walter is a visual artist working across a diverse range of media including painting, moving image, installation, Virtual Reality and curating. His work is characterised by a disarming use of colour, humour and hospitality. Wellcome and Arts Council England have supported his work, and he was awarded the 2016 Hayward Curatorial Open for Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness. The Arts Council Collection and The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool have collected his work.

KARST is hosting the book launch for Soft Edges, Draw Close: Materiality in Space. This limited run publication corresponds with Euphrosyne Andrews’ current exhibition in the gallery. The event is hosted in collaboration with First Thursdays by Queer District Collective and Minerva Cafe.

The book presents a body of work by the artist that explores how materials and their subsequent associations shape our interactions within space. Contributions from Owen Hatherley and The Box Plymouth situate the work within the framework of modernist architecture, social histories and politics. An in-conversation between Katie Schwab, Euphrosyne Andrews and Ben Borthwick offers insight into the creative practices and print methodologies that underpin the work.

At 6.45pm there will be an in-conversation between the artist and Ben Borthwick, Head of Creative Programme at KARST. Bar provided by Minerva Cafe.

Entry is free, all welcome.

Book published by Foolscap Editions, creative direction and curation by Daniel Fletcher, design by William Lyall.