CATHIE Boyd is the artistic director of Cryptic, the Glasgow-based international arts house behind Sonica, a touring programme of visual sonic arts. This summer, Sonica returns to Glasgow with three major family-friendly, free events across the city.
I AM thrilled that less than a year after our Glasgow Sonica festival, Cryptic is bringing a pop-up programme of sonic art for the visually minded to the city this summer. It will bring three unique, memorable events at a time when all eyes will be on Glasgow for the European Championships.
I founded Cryptic in 1994 with a desire to ravish the senses of audiences by presenting multi-media performances that fuse music, sonic and visual art and, established in 2012, Sonica is Cryptic’s biggest programme of work, which showcases exceptional international artists alongside emerging Scottish-talent.
This year we are placing a great focus on families both local to Glasgow and those visiting from further afield, offering a sensory selection that is sure to surprise and delight all ages.
Portal (August 2 to August 12) from Glasgow’s own Cryptic Associate Artist Robbie Thomson and composer Alex Menzies, takes us back to Govan where we presented Sound to Sea, our night-time nautical extravaganza for the XX Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Building on this legacy, we are glad to be working with such a diverse and vibrant community again.
We hope to bring them an unforgettable, sensory subterranean spectacle, which will transform the remarkable Clyde Tunnel in its 55th anniversary year. Expect interactive kinetic sea creatures, responsive underwater plants, electronic sounds, light installations and more – a wander along the pedestrian tunnel will never be the same again.
The amazing Australian artists, Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey, who brought Megaphones to Kelvingrove Bandstand during the previous Sonica, specialise in creating curious, public interventions, which encourage people to play, and for Festival 2018, they invite everyone to come and join a conversation with Pivot’s (August 1 to August 12) semi-intelligent talking see-saws.
Installed in George Square, people will be poked, probed, questioned and counselled by this artificially intelligent apparatus. What better way for locals and visitors to the city to connect, share stories and legitimately release their inner child, all in the name of art?
Continuing Sonica’s long-term partnership with the wonderful Lighthouse, Scotland’s national centre for design and architecture, we have sound and audiovisual artist, Louise Harris, presenting a new work.
She has been commissioned to create, Visaurihelix (July 6 to January 2019), commemorating Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s 150th anniversary.
Taking inspiration from the many geometric forms found in his architecture, visitors will ascend through an interactive sound installation, strung across the staircase of the Mackintosh Tower, which can be played by the public. Accompanied by a new electronic composition and visuals, what better way to say Happy Birthday to the great man who gave us “The Glasgow Style?”
In celebration of Glasgow’s status as Unesco City of Music, Cryptic is delighted to bring Sonica to the masses this summer, with all three works being free to attend thanks to the vital contributions of our many partners.
We are grateful to core funders Creative Scotland and Glasgow City Council for their ongoing support; PRS for Music Foundation and The Robertson Trust for investing in talent development; Australia Council for The Arts and, for Portal in particular, we could not have achieved the vision of this project without bots.co.uk.
It is companies like Bots, which make high-quality, innovative arts projects happen – a huge thank you to Tim Warrington and the team at Bots for helping to supply the robotic arm for the show.
Whatever takes your fancy, whether it is one event or all three, we look forward to everyone experiencing some extraordinary Sonica events across Glasgow.
All three Cryptic events are free to attend and suitable for audiences of all ages.
www.sonic-a.co.uk www.cryptic.org.uk
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