IMPORTANT:

Claire Zackiewicz is not able to lead this session, so instead  we would like to attempt to produce a version of Christian Wolff’s ‘Stones’:

Make sounds with stones, draw sounds out of stones, using a number of sizes and kinds (and colours); for the most part discretely; sometimes in rapid sequences. For the most part striking stones wfth stones, but also stones on other surfaces (inside the open head of a drum, for instance) or other than struck (bowed, for instance, or amplified). Do not break anything.
Please bring some stones with you, we will also be providing some. Think about how you might be able to incorporate stones into your ‘usual’ instruments, as well as using them as standalone sound makers.
We will spend the first part of the session exploring sounds and putting together a short piece, then we will do our usual free play in the second half.
Also please remember there are no toilet facilities at the Undercroft but you are able to use the toilets at the Sir Garnet. I would also recommend bringing something to sit on as the chair situation there is quite transient…

 

The Plank is an open community group where we explore many aspects of free improvisation and group playing. The sessions consist of some structured activity and some free play. We welcome artists of other mediums to respond within the space, or those that want to be passive within the space.

The 2023 programme has been supported by The Ranworth Trust and as a result we have been able to invite a number of guest artists to lead sessions, and make use of a variety of different venues.

This session will be led by Claire Zakiewicz, focussing on responsive mark-making.

”As a performance painter, my work examines relationships between sound and painting and the aesthetics of improvisation. Some of these relationships are physical, immediate and felt, while others are reflective, considered or based on conceptual metaphor. My practice incorporates acting and dance techniques such as Meisner and Contact Improvisation to explore qualities of mark-making through gestural, automatic, accidental and incidental marking interspersed with contemplative periods of judgement, editing and contextualisation.

I’m interested in the vibrancy, vitality and history of places, bodies and objects and the significance of human creativity in the time of AI. My work is an exercise in listening and looking more deeply with the whole body and a meditation on solitude and connection. I am interested in how the digital turn has impacted how we see and how we paint. I explore what it is to draw from memory, the imagination, concepts, prescribed patterns and intuitive processes. My own experience of the work is often transformative by allowing me to explore cognitive processes that underlie our emotional and conceptual relationship with the arts. 

Abstract and figurative painting is the central context within which I explore these questions but I also play saxophone, produce electronic music, videos, projections, installations, photographic works and performances that examine the complexities of exchange and attunement. My exhibitions often include live painting installations, live dance and music performances as well as editions, paintings of all sizes and projections.”

Visit The Plank page for full details.

Please note: You may bring anything you like; instruments, objects, devices….
Please bring your own amplification if required, there is no PA.
You are welcome to observe, we welcome anyone who wants to form an audience.
The Plank is an entirely open platform, it will be curated and facilitated by Eastern Ear where appropriate but we welcome suggestions of any nature.
If you have a personal objective from attending ‘The Plank’ (such as to work with a drummer) then please make that clear to us at the beginning of the session.