- Running from September 20th through 30th, London's Unconscious Archives Festival presented a series of events celebrating experimental contemporary art, film, music and performance. In particular, it provided a platform for women defying genres and breaking boundaries, raising the bar of opportunity for female-identifying and transgender artists internationally. One such artist was Ziúr, who headlined Thursday night's event, titled Haptic Somatic, at Corsica Studios.
Haptic Somatic was billed as an "enlivened club night concept," bringing together live performance, noise, light compositions and club music. In other words, a total sensory overload of sound and art. Would the programming succeed in enlivening a Thursday night in Elephant & Castle?
Ziúr, who was launching her debut album, U Feel Anything?, on Planet Mu, played last in the early hours of Friday morning to a sparse but engaged audience. After an extended intro featuring breathy female vocals, she showcased her love for pairing ethereal melodies with aggressive, off-kilter drums via LP cuts like "Body Of Light," which features Aïsha Devi, and the title track. The room remained dark throughout, with only a couple of spotlights twisting above. The darkness and powerful sound did the music justice.
Yaxu, who played earlier in room two, was another highlight. Live coding appeared on the screen behind him as he built bright, broken noise using TidalCycles, a programming language he'd designed himself. As he flitted between jungle and hardcore, at one point chucking in a sample from M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," the audience was transfixed. Some people sat cross-legged on the floor, bobbing their heads, their eyes glued to the visuals.
Several of the other performances were just as dark and intense, if not more so. During Laurie Tompkins' bizarre, angst-filled show, most of the crowd seemed perplexed as he waved a Sainsbury's bag in the air, smashed up some ceramics and slammed a metal bowl against a table, all to a backing track of white noise and piercing drone sounds. Spatial sent low-frequency vibrations coursing through the room while people faced the back wall to watch his hacked coding on a projector. Later, Polish electronic noise artist Ewa Justka warped senses with stroboscopic neon bulbs and her hand-built synthesiser.
In contrast to the intensity of the rooms, the club's brightly lit white corridors were constantly dotted with groups of young hipsters and older creatives. Mostly European, they engaged in lively, thoughtful discussion about the performances. This made a refreshing change from the average late-night scene, which is often sweatier and filled with less analytical chat. The combination of the open-minded crowd, challenging sonics and multi-sensory dance floor experiences made Haptic Somatic every bit the enlivening party it set out to be.
Photo credit /
Ollie Paxton