Frequency 2017
Frequency Festival 2017: disPLACEment
Lincoln went digital again in October 2017 with a programme bursting with exhibitions, installations, performances and events from international and UK artists. The fourth biennial edition of Lincoln’s digital culture festival, saw over 25,000 visitors over ten days.
The 2017 festival theme was disPLACEment inspired by the 800th anniversary of The Charter of the Forest. We asked artists to show us how the digital world is changing the way we see ourselves and the places in which we live.
The festival spread out across the city, springing up in many unexpected locations, including the 13th century Chapterhouse of Lincoln Cathedral, Cobb Hall at the Castle, the shop floor of Lincoln’s oldest family business, Ruddocks, and a Roman Posterngate below RBS bank. The sites were managed by over 160 volunteers, who welcomed visitors at each site to experience the works.
A major highlight of Frequency 2017 was Log Book by Turner Prize winning collective Assemble, who brought a breath-taking living performance featuring local woodworkers to Lincoln’s Cathedral.
Other programme highlights included WHIST by AØE, a chilling experience inspired by Sigmund Freud that combines virtual reality and an art installation with physical theatre and dance, housed in Lincoln’s oldest church, St Mary Le Wigford.
Festival highlights
Log Book
Assemble, UK
Log Book was a co-commission between the Woodland Trust, Common Ground, Threshold Studios and Lincoln Cathedral.
Log Book by the London-based collective Assemble, seeks to reconnect British people with the nation’s woodlands and with the lives and skills of those who work in them through living performance.
“Woodlands used to be a massive part of life. Every town, village and city relied on timber for building homes, heating homes, foraging, medicine and myths. Many people were employed by woodland industry and craft.”
Log Book was commissioned on the 800th Anniversary of The Charter of the Forest, a companion document to Magna Carta, to celebrate the launch of a new Charter for Trees, Woods and People, led by the Woodland Trust. The new charter is now displayed alongside the Magna Carta and Charter of the Forest at Lincoln Castle.
EMPIRE SOLDIERS
METRO-BOULOT-DODO
Transport back in time to 1918 alongside soldiers returning from the front line, hear the captivating stories of the battlefield directly from the soldiers themselves and share their emotional experiences of the return home.
Empire Soldiers is a breathtaking new show blending performance and technology to tell the compelling stories of the forgotten Caribbean soldiers of World War 1. Using VR headsets and surround sound, this show brings a truly immersive experience that is emotive and unforgettable.
Frequency visitors were able to experience Empire Soldiers through the VR headsets on City Square or the full performance experience was available at Lincoln Drill Hall.
APPARATUS FLORIUS
Tom Dekyvere
The installation “Apparatus Florius” shows the fusion and obstruction of geometric patterns that grow in and through one another. Several entities seek an outlet with concrete opportunities to progress to the next phase of their existential journey. During this exploration in Lincoln they search for the next step in their history. Applied to Cobb Hall, the structure symbolizes the instinctive flow of a plant, in search of light to be able to grow and create natural space. It is an invasion of greenery and coloured digitally lighted triangular leaves. The work questions the balance between the human adaptation and digitalization of our natural environment.
Deep Data Prototype_1 to 3
Andy Gracie
Andy Gracie’s innovative Deep Data Prototype_1 to 3, which used deep space data to subject living organisms to extra-terrestrial environments, proved a critical favourite.
The Deep Data project is a series of works where art meets science. Using data from deep space exploration platforms such as probes, landers and orbiters, the works manipulate the parameters of astrobiological experiments.The pieces also present investigations into the effects of other planetary environments on the forced evolution of life and the powers of simulation.
Artists
Karl Ohiri | Georgina Weller | Tom Dekyvere | Daz Disley | Tony Richards | Jon Adams and Dan Thompson | Matthew Humphries | Sian Wright | Andy Gracie | Invisible Flock and Quicksand | METRO-BOULOT-DODO | Andy Johnson Smith | Kino Train | Jake Moore | Jack A.G. Britton | Illumaphonium | Laurence Payot | Assemble | General Practice | Scenocosme | Amy O’Sullivan | Michael Pinchbeck and Ollie Smith | Jean Abreu | Hetain Patel | Tom Adams | Ashley James Brown | Saziso Phiri | Nicholas Canot and Gabriel-Marie Farey | Usher Young Creatives | Vincent Dance Theatre | A?E | Jamie Shovlin | Tony Richards, David McSherry and Steve Judge |
Venues
Lincoln Cathedral | Lincoln Drill Hall | University of Lincoln | Ruddocks | Cobb Hall, Lincoln Castle | City Square | Waterstones | Project Space Plus | Café Shanti | Posterngate | Lincoln Performing Arts Centre | Cornhill kiosk |The Collection | Stephen Langton Building | Chapter House Lincoln Cathedral | Buses around Lincoln City Centre | Collection Cinema | The Collection and Usher Gallery | St Swithin’s Church | The Lawn | Lincoln’s Central Market Sincil Street | Guildhall | Waterside Shopping Centre | Gallery at st. Martins | St Mary le Wigford | Superfi Lincoln | Drill Hall Cellar