Forma’s Online Screening Programme

People Like Us will be streaming the video The Horror!! on Forma’s website between 18 May until 20 May 2020:

A selection of artists, including People Like Us, who have contributed to Forma’s 18 year history, as well as present and future collaborators, have chosen existing work to return to in a time of change, uncertainty and adaptation. Each film will be screened for 72 hours, with new work made available every Monday and Thursday in the upcoming weeks. Each film will be accompanied by a short Q&A between the artist and Forma, asking what has changed, what has stayed the same and what they’ve been up to in the meantime.

Artists include: Gina CzarneckiBenedict DrewAmartey GoldingSophie HoyleGareth HudsonBeth KettelPeople Like UsHimali Singh SoinSorbus and Jane and Louise Wilson.

The programme will launch on the 11 May on this page; screenings will be announced via Forma’s Instagram and Twitter channels. The People Like Us film will screen between 18 May until 20 May 2020.

Q&A with Leila Hasham, Deputy Director (Maternity Cover)

You source your clips from both audio and moving image pre-existing material to weave new threads and create patchworks of associations. How do you decide on a particular pairing and sequencing of audio and visual material?

I choose an umbrella subject, big enough to have room for all sorts of tangents. For instance my current live performance (sigh… remember those?) is called The Mirror, which allows for all sorts of threads to do with the obvious reflection but also more interesting and obscure twists and turns in context and content like that of surface, duality, screens, frames and so on. The pairings are sometimes ideas that come in advance, but more often from collecting subject matter, hundreds of clips for several months then putting them together on a computer audio or visual timeline and moving them around to see how they talk to each other.

What prompted you to look at the darker side of celluloid in The Horror!!?

I don’t actually watch horror films for entertainment (although I did when I was a teenager). But I like how in these movies everyone is equal – both the goodies and the baddies are having a bad time, they are all suffering at once, and then you have to remind yourself when you get spooked that they are all actors pretending to have a bad time – and I like the way that stories are often so real that we are so tied into the plot that we can be deeply affected, because it is so much like our own minds, full of stories… but only a certain amount of stories exist, and we just put new names and places onto these things.

In a post-digital world, what role do physical archives play?

Time is a funny thing, and this is what we are referring to with definitions like this. They don’t mean that much to me. We are all dealing with the present. And as you read this that previous sentence is the past. It is all relative, and we all relate, we are all interconnected. What role does any archive play is the bigger question, not what format it is – it is a library, which needs to be shared or it is dead, much like our memories and experiences. What role do they play? They are a point of connection from which to move forward with our lives.

This is a strange time since time is both long and short at the same time, and the mass consciousness right now feels very disturbed and I’m finding it very hard to concentrate on art. I am able to do admin though, so that’s an interesting thing! What are you currently working on and how are you passing the time and staying sane?

To stay sane” I’ve been tuning into London Buddhist Centre on YouTube most days, and also doing Zoom meditations with a couple of different groups. In addition I’ve been at my allotment, which feels like the only normal place right now.

What you up to? is an unfolding online screening programme, inviting artists who have contributed to Forma’s 18 year history of creative production and commissioning to select an existing moving image work to revisit in a time of global change. In accompanying socially-distanced Q&As, Forma staff and the artists catch up on how practices and perspectives are shifting, and what is keeping us occupied during quarantine. Films will be available to stream on the Forma website for 72 hours, updating on Monday and Thursdays.

List of Residencies, Commissions & Collaborations

ALL COMMISSION ENQUIRIES / BOOKINGS ARE DIRECTLY THROUGH OUR CONTACT PAGE.

Khroma surround av work for a new RML CineChamber module [2025]
Some Days I Drink My Coffee By The Grave of William Blake video for The The, directed by Tim Pope [2024]
Elusive Butterfly video for Marc Almond [2024]
Linoleum Smooth video for The The, directed by Tim Pope [2024]
First Hand Experience In Second Hand Love video for Soft Cell live show [2024]
Cognitive Dissident video for The The, directed by Tim Pope [2024]
A Man Could Get Lost video for Soft Cell live show [2024]
Mise En Abyme multiscreen/multispeaker installation for Aveiro 2024, Capital Portuguesa Da Cultura [2024]
PhD Studentship – Northern Bridge [2023+]
Live AV performance collaboration with Ergo Phizmiz and Gwilly Edmondez, Cafe OTO / Arts Council England [2023]
Artist support from Lakes of Wada [2023]
Solo live AV performance “The Library of Babel“, IndieGoGo crowdfunded [2023]
CuratorSpace Artist Bursary [2022]
“Changing Your Mind” radio commission for Deutschlandradio [2022/2023]
108 radio commission for Radio Art Zone [2022]
Mind Maps: The Art of Vicki Bennett Sheehan Gallery, Walla Walla, USA | [2022]
Global Eyes video for THE THE [2022]
PRSF Open Fund For Music Creators recipient [2021]
Gone, Gone Beyond Commissioned by SPILL Festival of Performance, presented in partnership with Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA) and Barbican. Supported by Recombinant Media Labs (RML), DanceEast, nyMusikk, Gulbenkian, TouchDesigner, PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund and Arts Council England. Developed as part of Sound and Music’s New Voices Programme. [2021]
a-n Artist Bursaries 2019 recipient [2019]
I Can Fly new radio work for WDR3 [2019]
Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP) artist [2019-2020]
Sound and Music New Voices award recipient [2018-2020]
New live AV performance “The MirrorACE Grants for the Arts [2018-2019]
8 speaker / 10 screen audiovisual installation “Gone, Gone Beyond” with Recombinant Media Labs and Cinechamber [2016++]
Video editing/production for The The Comeback Special [Spring 2018]
Can’t Stop What’s Coming video for THE THE [2017]
Curation of radio station and artist residency (with John Kilduff) Optimized! on WFMU funded by National Endowment for the Arts [June 2016]
No One Is An Island radio commission for WDR to be broadcast 9 April 2016 on WDR 3 [Summer 2015-Winter 2015]
Curation of films for Concert of Collage, Watershed, Bristol [September 2015]
Nothing Can Turn Into A Void, editing a feature length doc film by Carl Abrahamsson about Vicki Bennett/People Like Us [Spring 2015]
Arts Council England award creating a new live AV performance Citation City and new short films with artist soundtracks pdf [Spring 2014-Spring 2015]
Book collaboration with Gregor Weichbrodt The Fundamental Questions [Summer 2014]
Those Who Do Not T Shirt Commission [Summer 2014]
Printed in a light blue and white on an electric blue T-shirt with The Wire logo and Vicki Bennett Those Who Do Not printed in light blue on the back of the neck. Limited edition of 100 shirts.
Solo gallery show Shutter at Leeds College of Art pdf [Winter-Spring 2014]
Touring award from Sound and Music for Notations [Autumn/Winter 2013]
Two short animation films for Animate Projects/Channel 4 television, UK as part of their Random Acts Series [March 2013-July 2013] broadcast on national television in Autumn 2013 pdf
Creation of online film with 7 artist soundtracks Gesture Piece, commissioned by Pixel Palace at Tyneside Cinema pdf [Spring/Summer 2013]
Creating a new live AV performance Consequences (One Things Leads To Another, commissioned by Arts Council England [August 2012-January 2013], supported by transmediale [January 2013]
Music for live performance piece Lost and Found by Anne Juren [Summer 2012]
Archiving Radio Boredcast on WFMU, commissioned by AV Festival wfmu.org/playlists/ZZ [May-June 2012]
Curating an online-radio station Radio Boredcast for AV Festival 12pdf [Sept 2011-March 2012]
Sound and Music commission to make AVlive performance Horror Collage for The Sound Of Fear (later changed to The Magical Misery Tour Southbank Centre, London [September 2011]
The Doors of Perspection at Vitrine Gallery London [July/August 2011]
Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival commission to create a new live AV performance The Keystone Cut Ups with Ergo Phizmiz [2010]
Curation of Nothing is New, Everything Is Permitted. as part of AV Festival 10 at the Star and Shadow, Newcastle [2010]
Edinburgh Printmakers commission to create audio and artwork for a picture disc LP “This Is Light Music”, as part of their group exhibition Prints of Darkness to be shown at Edinburgh Printmakers in Summer 2010 then touring venues [2010]
Grants For The Arts commission to create new AV performance Genre Collage [2008-2009]
Great North Run Moving Image Commission 2009 The Great North Run Cultural Programme – to create a film using the archives of the Great North Run, Parade pdf [July 2008-October 2009]
Grants For The Arts commission to release Rhapsody In Glue with Ergo Phizmiz on bleep.com – an album created with audio collage sourced from the podcast Codpaste (May 2008)
 Retrospective solo exhibition of People Like Us AV work, entitled We Edit Life at alt.gallery Newcastle curated by Rebecca Shatwell pdf [May 2008]
Curation of CD Smiling Through My Teeth – Sonic Arts Network [May 2008]
Forma/AV Festival commission Breaking Waves to make Bluetooth audio compositions for mobile phone [January 2008]
Lecturing Music and Other Media at Goldsmiths [2006-2008]
Wandsworth Film Awards commission to make short digital film Skew Gardens, exploring the boundaries of urban land use – [September 2007]
Lovebytes commission in association with Millennium Galleries, Sheffield to make three screen AV film Work, Rest & Play [June 2007]
 Grants For The Arts commission to make podcast series Codpaste on WFMU, where People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz explore the working process of creating music from scratch [September 2007]
Radio session for BBC Radio 3’s Mixing It [February 2007]
Artist Residency at BBC Creative Archive with “access all areas” to work with their archive – Arts Council England (Interdisciplinary Arts) with BBC, White City – [March 2006]
Grants For The Arts commission to create 10″ record to be given away for free in selected international record stores Honeysuckle Boulevard [August 2006]
PRS Foundation award to create a new live performance (with artist Ergo Phizmiz) using dansette players and self-pressed vinyl compositions Boots! [June 2006]
Sonic Arts Network / Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studio (EMS) commission working with Daphne Oram’s sound archive [Summer 2005]
Grants for the Arts commission to create new live AV performance – [April 2005]
LUX commission to make digital short film sourcing the LUX archive collection Resemblage [October 2004]
Residency at FACT to make radio play Molaradio in collaboration with artist Felix Kubin and Croxteth school children [January 2004]
Sonic Arts Network commission to make short film and subsequent DVD release – Story Without End [June 2004]
Live performance with Wobbly for radio broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Mixing It, London Spitz [May 2004]
BBC Radio 1 session for John Peel [January 2003]
Future Physical commission to make digital short film The Remote Controller [June 2002]
Baby Zizanie (JG Thirlwell and Jim Coleman) live video for BZ performed at David Bowie’s Meltdown at QEH, London (June 2002)
Lovebytes commission to make short film We Edit Life [December 2002]
Curated line up for Humour in Music event, Ether Festival at Purcell Room, London [May 2002]
Year of the Artist Residency, Lighthouse, Brighton with Brighton & Hove Music Library, teaching sound collage [June 2001]
Year of the Artist Residency, Hull Time Based Arts, making AV collage – [January-April 2001]
Live session and BBC Radio 3 broadcast for Mixing It, Dingwalls [March 2001]
Work & Leisure International commission to make new AV live performance – [September 1999]
Ars Electronica – The Sound of Music live collaboration with Negativland and Barbed [Summer 1998]
Various radio commissions for De Avonden on VPRO, The Netherlands [early 1990s]

Breaking Waves (mp3 > bluetooth project)

Forma commissioned People Like Us to make a series of new soundworks for the AV Festival “Now Hear This”.

breaking waves
Now Hear This is a series of site–specific audio works presented in various public spaces across Middlesbrough, UK. The project featured audio works by artists including Marcus Coates and Zoe Irvine, selected for their various interests in the complex relationships between sound, space and location. Adopting diverse modes of broadcast and public address, Now Hear This offers a range of listening experiences and unexpected sonic interventions into our everyday urban environment, creating surprising and engaging encounters with broadcast material. People Like Us produced this series of short audio works to be broadcast via Bluetooth in Middlesbrough Town left. These brief musical compositions explore the humorous side to communication breakdowns in all their varied and surprising forms. Pair up with People Like Us for a series of misfiring musical arrangements, exploring the entertaining aspects of miscommunication, disharmony, bad connections and missed calls.

01. Hello Hush
02. Hello I’m Talking
03. Hello, Sorry It’s Alright
04. Let Them In
05. Please Hold
06. Silence
07. Something
08. The Telephone Call
09. Uncle Campbell
10. Webster Lineman

Download at UbuWeb

breaking waves
Forma website
Now Hear This website
Thanks to WFMU’s Beware of the Blog

Mirrored here: