Review - Liverpool Biennial 2016

Drawing on stories from Liverpool’s past, present and future, Liverpool Biennial 2016 takes us on a transcendent voyage through time and space, as we visit a handful of the scattered, citywide locations that are to house its multitude of free art installations until 16^th October.

A small door stands ajar on Lime Street, having appeared, as if from nowhere, in the otherwise solid and impenetrable facade of the disused ABC Cinema.

 Abandoning the daylight, you pass through a shadowy corridor, floorboards creaking beneath you. As you emerge into the half-light, a magnificent Art Deco proscenium comes into view, in all its gilt and faded glory, looming over curious sculptures that have been placed amid the dust.

Interior of the ABC Cinema. © Brian Lloyd Photography

Suddenly plunged into darkness, a film begins to play, part of a series by artists Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni that presents a history of technology through the unfeeling eyes of a machine. In this episode, named The Uncomputable, we’re shown a chilling, retro-futuristic vision of a monstrous weather prediction machine made up of every human being on earth.

You feel almost drawn into the film, the dark, empty, and windswept theatrical space in which it is set mirroring the chilly and decayed surroundings in which you find yourself. The whole experience provokes a sense of reflection, wonder, and dread merged deliciously together.

Meanwhile, at the heart of Liverpool One, an infinite wooden staircase leads into and upon itself, supposedly built for someone who can span time to visit the same date in different years. Mariana Castillo Deball’s To-day 9th of July 2016 is a piece that encourages altered perspectives around a familiar point, so it’s only fitting that the images carved into the object should seem to fragment and become whole again as you too shift position around it. Its layout naturally invites pedestrian shoppers to take a few moments respite on one of its giant steps, and this impromptu cast accidentally serves accentuate the notion of co-existent plains of time as they sit at varying levels above and below each other, but are all nevertheless present at the same spot.

Over at Tate Liverpool, it’s as though Ancient Greek and contemporary artists have collaborated across the centuries in this exhibition that aims to create a fictionalised other world. Merging both eras into one, it subtly mirrors the goals of the 19th century designers behind the city’s iconic Neoclassical architecture.

Statue of Apollo Sauroktonos, Tate © Photo: Roger Sinek

Featured are all manner of artistic detritus from antiquity, a mismatch of marble body parts originally collected by 19^th century Lancashire industrialist, Henry Blundell.

Many of these artefacts were “restored” by the collector turned sculptural Frankenstein, in that distinctly devil-may-care attitude so often associated with the Victorians. As a result, genders ended up merged, eras became melded together.

Our modern-day sense of preservational sacrilege at the sight of these Classical chimeras is grudgingly softened by the fact they nevertheless remain oddly beautiful in their transfigured states, configured and presented here to us by Belgian artist, Koenraad Dedobbeleer.

Alongside these works from antiquity stand an array of curious modern sculptural works, including one that splices a toga-wearing torso with an elephant’s head - perhaps in order to create the idea of news myths taking shape, new perspectives?

Strewn about the floor of the exhibition space are pieces of litter: wrappers, cigarette butts, you name it. At first, you question whether Tate needs to invest in some new cleaners, but a plaque on the wall soon discloses that this is in fact an art installation, entitled What the Living Do, by American artist, Jon Dodge. Whilst obviously highlighting the mire of debris humanity existence leaves in its wake, it all seems somewhat tiresomely overdone. In truth, as each footstep accidentally sends yet another surge of rubbish rocketing towards your neighbour, that old missive about art being “anything you can get away with” can’t help but scream to mind.

Also featured in the Tate episode is a fascinating short film about Ancient Greek vases by Andreas Angelidakis, discussing how they were not only vessels for carrying goods, but also a way of bearing news and myths in their exterior decoration. This method of story sharing is cleverly compared with how we use the internet to disseminate modern-day information.

Another short shows us footage of members of Isis committing iconoclastic destruction at an ancient site. Artists Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian have added cartoonish doodles – giving the men beaks and binikis - onto the shots, disempowering the vandals and making their actions seem laughable and clown-like.

This year’s Biennial is a collision of artistic histories and fictions – some compelling, others questionable – that also offers the incurably curious the chance at a rare glimpse inside some of the city’s unique, hidden spaces, and is well worth discovering for yourself.

For more information on Liverpool Biennial 2016, visit biennial.com

Review - Scott Matthews at Telford's Warehouse, Chester

As silence descends, soft and haunting sounds begin to drift from the stage, echoes delicately produced by a glass slide on electric guitar strings, which usher us into an almost trance-like state.

Ahead of the release of his sixth album, Home Part 2, later this month, the award-winning singer-songwriter Scott Matthews has returned to Telford’s Warehouse in Chester to give us a spellbinding solo performance like no other.

As ever, it is truly remarkable how Scott’s voice seems to transform itself and resonate with the quality of a cello as he sings. The effortless fluidity of his vocal range and his graceful vibrato never fail to send shivers running up and down the spine.

Playing around with the songs we know so well is a habit of his, and, every time he begins, we never quite know which one will suddenly emerge from each meandering intro. As well as favourites like ‘City Headache’, ‘Eyes Wider than Before’, ‘Sunlight’, and ‘Virginia’, we’re treated to a handful of songs from his upcoming album and the first from his new label, Shedio Records – created by Scott himself.

With greater creative freedom than ever before, he has been able to put together a piece of work that meaningfully reflects on his evolution as an artist.

“Sonically, I wanted to create a very broad canvas this time around,” he reveals. “Home Part 2 bears similarities to my debut album, Passing Stranger, in the sense that there has been a desire to return to the roots where my musical seeds were planted. Almost like a need to rekindle a relationship with the artist I was ten years ago, but joining forces with the artist I am today.”

Local folk trio, Mountainface (Sam Rowlands Photography) 

Scott will be heading on the road with his band, immediately after his solo tour, to play at venues across the UK before heading to tour in Europe. Also promised later this year is a special edition LP of Passing Stranger to mark the anniversary of its release ten years ago. 2016 has proven to be an exciting and busy year for the artist, something which his dedicated fan base is no doubt thankful for.  

Supporting Scott before his Telford’s gig were the boys from local folk trio, Mountainface, featuring the particularly skilled mandolin playing from Matthew Youds,  rhythm guitar and reedlike lead vocals from David Weir, and lead guitar and backing vocals from Tom Winch. The group’s passion for their music is clearly visible as they perform, and marries with their undeniable energy.

Scott Matthews’s single, ‘The Lantern Flower’, is available now; His album, Home part 2, is released 19^th September, 2016 and is available for pre-order here (including a free download of new single 'Drifter')

To find out more about Scott, visit scottmatthews.uk