The Dumpcast #2

ROOT

Improvised spoken word and percussion. 18 June 2016, Middlesex University, London.

The scraping that can be heard at the beginning is a the head of a rusted pick-axe that I attached to my ankle with string, so I had to drag it behind me as I moved. The stage was bare, except for a dais on which there was a tight spotlight. Sitting on the dais was a stool on which was a mural crown made out of brown paper. At the end of the piece, I picked up the crown and raised it above my head, then the lights went down. For a large part of the performance I was behind the audience, who were seated looking towards the stage.

POO-TEE-WEET AT THE ASC GALLERY

Homage to K Vonnegut. So it goes.

Poo tee weet by Robin Bale, Electric Spectra, Domain of Sensible Knowledge, ASC Gallery 1/6/17. from Nicola Woodham on Vimeo.

NEW PROJECT....

The Patterers

Further details to be announced in the next week or two.

AQUA TOPHANA

My performance from last December at the Dungeons of Polymorphous Pan. In case you are wondering, aqua tophana was a poison believed to work so insensibly slowly that it was indistinguishable from old age. It was also meant to be so virulent that a single drop could poison the entire sea. It actually does have some historical basis, in that there was a famous manufacturer of that  poison, Giulia Tofana - so it is in fact a brand name.  I've always enjoyed the idea that we have all been poisoned by it - which is why we don't live forever.

The stick that you can see me holding is an improvised bass - it had machine heads strung with fishing line, an empty can for a resonating chamber and a contact mic for amplification. It was rather microphonic, so you can hear my voice coming through it into the effects pedal it was attached to as well. Unfortunately, it didn't survive the night but mark II will make its appearance sometime soon I hope.

HERE IS THE EP - HEAR