Stefhan Caddick: Artwork & Projects

I’m looking for volunteer performers to take part in ‘as a Raven knows of singing’, a distributed sound performance which marks the re-opening of Llwyn Celyn, a medieval hall house near Abergavenny, which has over the last few years undergone painstaking restoration by the Landmark Trust.

I’ve been working with composer Jobina Tinnemans to develop a new performance piece to mark the end of restoration and the start of a new chapter in the building’s long history.

Using temporary sound sculptures, DIY instruments and voice we will be using the hills and valleys around Llwyn Celyn as a vast, distributed instrument.

The performances are on the evenings on 5th and 6th October, 2018 at Llwyn Celyn. There will also be 2-3 rehearsals, in the weeks leading up to the performance. Ideally participants will be able to attend all the rehearsals, but there is flexibility about that.

You don’t need any musical experience to take part, just enthusiasm!

If you would like to take part please contact me via email: hello@stefhancaddick.co.uk

More information about the project is available here: http://www.stefhancaddick.co.uk/new/as-a-raven-knows-of-singing/

Victoria Donovan, Simon Gore and I are doing a series of talks, discussions, screenings and workshops in Scotland this week, discussing ‘Enthusiasm’, a project around the themes of revolution, migration, culture at Merthyr Tydfil last July.

More info and how to book here:

Byre World, St Andrews University, 2 May, 7pm
https://byretheatre.com/events/byre-world-the-enthusiasm-project/

Princess Dashkova Centre, Edinburgh University, 4th May 5pm:
“Enthusiasm”: Exploring memory and migration in Hughesovka-Stalino-Donetsk through word, image and music, https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/dashkova/news-events/events/enthusiasm-film-live-music-hughesovka

Edinburgh Ukrainian Club, 4th May, 7.30pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/199082970899435/

Come and join the March for Culture / Save our Arts, to raise your voice against Cardiff Council’s proposal to cut £700,000 from the arts budget in Cardiff.

Meeting outside the National Museum of Wales, 2pm, Saturday 6th Feb 2016.

More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1540942539551943/

and here: https://www.facebook.com/cardiffwithoutculture/

Looking forward to chipping in with other artists, makers, foragers and diy technology types at bloc’s Wild Hack Haverfordwest tomorrow. “Wild Hack Haverfordwest is a gathering of makers, artists, diy and technology enthusiasts, computer programmers, wild folk, sea farers, ramblers, children, local residents and adventurous people. Everyone will work together to invent new tools for exploring the wild places in and around the town.”

Places still available on Facebook.

Good to see Llwyn Celyn’s lesser horseshoe bat residents featuring on Channel 4’s ‘Restoring Britain’s Landmarks‘ tonight. Last time I was there, with Jamie Lake, filming in the Beast House with a thermal imaging camera, I spotted at least 8 lesser horseshoes, along with a sparrowhawk, buzzard, a treecreeper breaking hazelnuts open on a branch (I thought it was a woodpecker), the biggest hoverfly I’ve seen and a Pale Tussock moth caterpillar making its way slowly across the road.

The medieval bread oven hidden behind the 60’s concrete fireplace was pretty spectacular too.

Llwyn Celyn is a Grade 1 listed, 15th century medieval ‘hall house’ which lies in the Black Mountains between Abergavenny and Hay-on-Wye. Once part of the monastic Llanthony Estate, the house has since the 1960s been falling gradually into disrepair. The property has recently been taken over by the Landmark Trust, with the help of Cadw and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, with the intention of restoring the building and outbuildings, including the fabulously named ‘Beast House’.

Working in partnership with PEAK, Landmark have secured funding from Heritage Lottery to run several artists’ residencies during the restoration process. I’ve been lucky enough to be offered one of the residencies, and I’m looking forward to starting over the coming months and working alongside the other selected artists, Toril Brancher, Catherine Baker and Jamie Lake.

The house was only recently vacated by its most recent human inhabitants (there is a good article on the house’s recent history on the Telegraph site), but on visiting the site, I noticed that some of the ‘other occupants’ – bats, birds and mice as well as innumerable beetles, woodlice (and other invertebrates who are probably busily consuming the building), spiders, moths and butterflies – hadn’t yet moved out. My proposal is to work ‘with’ some of these other occupants and create a series of artworks, interventions and events which negotiate the spaces which humans and animals share.

After having spent the past week experimenting with ‘Sugaring’ recipes to attract moths (more info at National Moth Week), I’m very nearly set to install the piece commissioned by Made in Roath for their Out of Doors programme this weekend (29th – 31st August 2015) in Roath Park in Cardiff. I’ll be installing a version of Mothmusic in the trees near the Rec (next to Roath Park Library). Come along at around 8pm on the Saturday to see it (it only works during the hours of darkness).

Gail, Helen and Becca from Made in Roath have been hard at work putting together a great programme of installations, performances, croquet games, walks, tours and an outdoor cinema screening. All events are free of charge.

For more information visit the website: http://madeinroath.com/

The annual ISEA event (International Symposium on Electronic Arts) is taking place in Vancouver this August, and I’ve been lucky enough to be selected to present new work at one of the Demonstration sessions. I’m going to be showing work in progress of a film which I’ve been making as part of my Creative Wales project, Gulliver. I’ve been working closely with ‘creative practitioner’ Harrison Banfield (JaguarMin), who’s been composing the soundtrack.

If you’re heading out to ISEA please do drop me a line, or come along to the session (Disruption: Generative Art – Tues Aug 18th at Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Simon Fraser University).

Very pleased to have been selected by Axis for #Five2Watch Wales: http://www.axisweb.org/features/spotlight/five2watch-wales/, alongside Kate Haywood, Jeanette Orrell,
Helen Booth and Rebecca Gould.

Good to see Axis shining the spotlight on artists in Wales too with their Notes from Wales publication.

I’m going to be installing Pickle Line for this autumn’s excellent Fourth Wall Film Festival, and part of the equally spectacular Cardiff Contemporary. The installation will be running from 23-25th October at the main festival venue on Wood Street. (Panopticon, 6 – 7 St. Davids House, Wood Street, Cardiff CF10 1ER ).

The project was commissioned for the 2012 festival but never came to fruition due to technical issues, which we’ve hopefully ironed out this time around!

Lots more information and the full festival programme on the festival’s website: http://www.4wfilm.org/