Final Arches meal event - Change of TIME

Unfortunetly due to circumstances beyond our control, the final HIMP lecture/ performance/ meal at the Arches Cafe has shifted in time (how apt) from 6:30pm to 6pm sharp.

The focus of the event is on trying to understand the concept of "the moment" against the backdrop of the entire history of the Universe so we've got a lot to cram into the show. I'd suggest getting along as early as you can, (you can get seated from 5:30pm onwards) getting a good seat and placing your food order early.

We filled up very quickly at the last event so booking is highly reccomended - 0141 565 1035.

You can read more about that previous event and take a look at the special themed menu here.

After the event closes I'll be around to provide little tours of the work and to take any interested souls along to the hidden exhibition room in the basement where you can experience our installation "Your Move" which is really the heart of the entire event.

The Universe is very big, you are very small, act accordingly

Hole in my Pocket return to the Arches with a new commissioned series of work for the Glasgow International 2012. We also have designed a series of performance events, details below.
The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, Glasgow / 02 April - 31 May 2012 (Noon - 11pm)

Taking direction from the GI's programme "Real Time" Hole in my Pocket explore the experience of time from a macro/micro view point. Trying to understand the concept of "the moment"/ "the present" when viewed against the enormous background history of the Universe.

We believe that we possess too little time; this is the myth we all now live by. What is true is that we are awash in things, in information, in news, in the old rubble and shiny new toys of our complex civilization, and perhaps stuff means speed. We have lost our pace, our connection, our position in the Universe; we can no longer see the stars. The wave patterns of all our facts and choices flow and crash about us at a heightened frequency. Meanwhile we continue to live in the buzz of the Light Age. We wish to live intensely, and we wonder about the consequences. Where is now?

The 'Present'/ the 'Moment'/ the "now", as we experience it, is the freeze frame of these Choices as they are made, at the meeting point of Past and the splitting of possible Futures.

Everything that has occurred up until and while forming our choice is the Past and all action resulting from that choice is the Future. The act of choosing is the only Present that exists, a moment of time so small that it cannot be measured. It is less than the firing of a synapse, less than the formation of thought, it is the fractional inertial moment between something having the potential to occur and for that something to begin to take place and each time alternate Universes divide like cells in a culture.

In this way all choices that we make, alter the Universe.

Waiting for No man, LED, timber, glass, 2012 (More info soon)

The Last Question, digital projection, 2012 (More info)

Your Move, Glass, Timber 2012 (More info)

A Stopped Clock, persepx, 2012 (More info soon)

Time Diagrams, prints, 2012 (More info)

Moments of Greatness

PART OF OUR EXHIBITION AT GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL 2012

Saturday was the first night of our performance/ science lecture / meal extravaganza collaboration with theatre maker Gary McNair. It was a rather fun relaxed event, with the happy audience tucking into a rather delicious 3 course meal while various concepts of time were explored.

I don't want to give away too much of what the evening entails, as there are still two further events to come and I don't want to spoil it for future diners, but I've put a copy of the event place mats below so you can get an idea of the menu.

All the dishes are time/ cosmology themed with such treats as 'Cosmology Carbonara' and 'E=MC peared'. The evening is structured into three short humorous lecture blocks with small one on one interactions happening at the tables in between. (Don't worry these are very harmless so those terrified by audience interaction need not fear. Though one Audience member does get to change the entire path of the Universe.)

Tickets are on a first come, first served basis so if this sounds like your cup of tea then ask for more info at the Arches Box Office 0141 565 1000. Next event is 5:30pm Thursday 26 April with the last event taking place either on 9/10 May tbc. (You can see more about the accompanying exhibition here.)

Gary McNair in full Brian Cox mode.

 A copy of the event place mat with the menu and short description of the event.

The mysterious red and white box that lies on every table and affects how things proceed.

The Last Question

The Last Question, digital projection, 2012

In the foyer our digital projection piece was made in collaboration with Internet whizz kid and all round web-genius Lizzie Malcolm who took our idea and made it real.

This projection focuses on a micro view of Time, trying to capture the fleeting experience of thought, the momentary pulse of choices/ action being decided. The work constantly lifts questions from websites around the world in 'real time' and posts them as abstract ideas on a ever alternating yellow and black backdrop. It is very hypnotic and often humorous piece which resonates with an audience. Some of the questions being asked feel like the opening line to a joke and yet some are filled with obvious pain and sadness. It is also interesting to see how we as a species turn to the Internet for guidance in all areas of life. Some of the Questions treat the Internet as an all knowing, almost omni-present being which can solve everything; from engineering problem and history homework to health matters and emotional trauma.

The viewer finds himself trying to imagine not only who the person asking the question might be, but also pondering the story that lies behind their question. They find themselves wanting to know the answers to the questions or attempt to answer the questions themselves which creates a tension in the viewer and makes the experience start to feel pretty intense.

The title of the work is taken from a short story by Isaac Asimov in 1956.

The below animation is a small sample record of actual questions being asked to demonstrate how the screen works. The actual piece looks quite different and we will link to an on line version of that piece, once a digital home is ready for it.

GI 2012: In progress

Here's a little sneak peak of some of the ideas we're playing around with for the GI2012 show we've designed for the Arches.

The above is a diagram which tries to expain the concept that should the sun explode it would take around 8.5 minutes before we noticed any change (due to the speed of light) but the actual physical effects of the explosion reaching us would take around 18 months.

This complicated little diagram is looking at the slingshot affect on time by gravity.

They make my head hurt a little and I drew them!! But they got pretty colours.