Press Release April 20th 2012

b-side multimedia Festival 2012

WEYMOUTH July 27th – AUGUST 12th

PORTLAND AUGUST 29th – SEPTEMBER 9th

b-side multimedia Festival returns in 2012 with a challenging and inspiring programme of contemporary art, intended to delight and provoke in equal measure.

This year artists from around the globe have responded to the b-side theme of ‘margins, boundaries, portals and departure points’ using visual art, digital media, performance and film. The 2012 Festival has a real international flavour showcasing the very best of the South West’s creative talent alongside artists from America, Europe and China. The 2010 Festival was a huge success with over 8,000 people visiting the b-side and 2012 Festival is set to be even better:

“b-side... witty, intelligent, subtle, accessible, beautifully curated stuff. Well done... Thank you x” 

- 2010 Festival Visitor

"We've been entertained, welcomed, challenged. I love being assaulted by things out of the ordinary and unexpected. I feel inspired and stimulated so thank you" 2010 Festival visitor

So what can you expect? Brand new innovative work sited in pubs, churches, alleyways, swimming pools, shops, cafes, car parks, bridges, bus stops, old castles and the amazing ICCI360 Arena. 

Steve McPherson's interactive, human-powered sound symphony co commissioned by b-side and LabCulture Ltd will welcome Olympic sailing visitors on the path to Nothe Fort, Bristol based Kid Carpet delivers an absurd ‘Language Lab’ comedy lecture inspired by the Olympian tale of Poseidon, whilst surreal and enchanting audio-visuals created by Dorset’s finest live art combo Triops using the incredible 360 degree ladybug camera will dazzle audiences in the 360 panoramic dome. Artists Annie Lovejoy & Belle Benfield have created a new sea shanty for Portland performed by a roaming choir singing on buses, cliff tops and post office queues and back in Weymouth mis-guided walking tours by Crabman, Signpost & Bell will take you on a tour of the town like no other - exploring missing houses, invisible rays and strange fish!

Jordan McKenzie returns to Weymouth in all his Victorian splendour as his alter ego Monsieur Poo-Pourri and Somerset based composer Hywel Davies has been working with Weymouth Concert Brass creating six new compositions for brass, played live on the Town Bridge as it lifts!

Join in with a telepathic drawing experiment guided by Ailie Rutherford and her new improved Ganzfeld machine, guaranteed to stream your creative thoughts into another’s brain (possibly!), the breath taking and enigmatic Sandsfoot Castle hosts an evocative live gig by Paul Wigens & Pete Judge of ‘Eyebrow’ and this year b-side hosts an international film programme exploring ‘water’ as a commodity, barrier and enabler with some really thought provoking films by Ivon Oates, Juan delGado, Nikolaj Larsen, Paul Howard and David Matthews. 

And that’s not all, Brighton based artist Stig Evans’s creates a new colour library for Portland and invites you to name the colours, Chinese artist Lu Zheng’s  installation of the poetic ‘waiting stones’ will bring a much needed pause and time for contemplation amid the jewel like seaside community garden in Chiswell, Dorset artist Joe Stevens has been using GPS technology to map an area of Portland transforming data into truly hypnotic digital drawings that grow and transform as you watch and painter Day Bowman has created a new series of work based upon the landscape as viewed fleetingly from a train to welcome visitors arriving at Weymouth Train Station.

And of course what you can’t miss will be Wendy Elia's new portrait of local triathlete Rowena Taylor co-commissioned by Sherborne House Arts and b-side. Rowena’s portrait will be displayed around Weymouth in all the unusual and unexpected places that b-side has grown to know and love! New York artist Paul Soulellis explores the links between Weymouth Dorset and Weymouth Massachusetts with the bespoke and limited edition of books entitled WEYMOUTHS that he will be handing out for free over the Festival period. Look out for unexpected signage ‘interventions’ - get ‘spammed’ on the street by Dutch artist Niels Post, see Tony Lopez’s new poems and text for traffic signs and Frances Scott’s sci fi inspired hypnotic video transmissions screened at bus stops along Weymouth Esplanade. 

b-side teams up with Ex Lab to host one of their art and science research projects, artist Simon Ryder will be presenting his findings up at Portland Bill, and disabled artist Susan Austin will be performing in her incredible underwater wheelchair with opportunities for audience members to view underwater too, a real once in a lifetime event! 

ENDS

Editors Notes:

• b-side multi media Festival will take place in Weymouth during the Olympic Sailing Events (27 July – 12 August) and on Portland during the Paralympics (29 August - 9 September).
• b-side Festival is coordinated and managed by b-side Community Interest Company 
• b-side Festival is a FREE Festival funded by Arts Council South West 
• Sherborne House Arts (SHA) is visual arts curatorial organisation formerly presenting the arts programme at Sherborne House in Dorset. Its aims are to present exhibitions and projects that reflect current visual art practice, encourage dialogue and develop opportunities for the creation of new work.
• LabCulture Ltd is an online space, featuring online commissions, curated work, information on SALT residencies and work by associated artists.
• b-side is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.
• b-side multimedia festival is part of Maritime Mix – London 2012 Cultural Olympiad by the Sea (9th March – 9th September 2012) is an ambitious creative celebration with 80 + events set to animate Weymouth, Portland and the Jurassic Coast in 2012. It will celebrate the area’s status as the 2nd largest Olympic venue after the capital as the host to the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic sailing events.

The extensive programme of events has been made possible by investment and support from Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and local authorities including; Dorset County Council, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council and local tourism partnerships. www.maritimemix2012.co.uk . 

For more information please contact:

Sandy Kirkby
producer@b-side.co.uk
07770 856 253