Saturday 4 May - Sunday 19 May 2024 Wednesdays to Sundays. Doors: 12PM-5PM
Lighthouse Project Space, New England House, Elder Place, York Hill Corner, BN1 4GH
A socially engaged sound art project and exhibition from the young people of Whitehawk and East Brighton, and artist Simon James, who was born and raised in Whitehawk.
Explored through the deep time history of the Neolithic in East Brighton and the contemporary soundscape of Whitehawk, the Neolithic Cannibals exhibition mixes archaeology, psycho-geography, sound art, and activism to transport audiences to a place where imaginative and fantastical sounds will invite deep listening to an area that can often be considered hidden and unheard.
Through a series of workshops the young people of Whitehawk have listened to and sounded the contemporary environment of East Brighton using the Whitehawk Hill Neolithic Camp, discovered in 1929 through a geophysical listening technique known as Bosing, as a symbolic focal point and inspiration for their sonic explorations.
The Neolithic Cannibals exhibition at Lighthouse will recreate the Neolithic Camp - a place of communion, celebration and ritual, as a compassionate listening space inviting audiences to discover Whitehawk's richness, joy, playfulness and hope, empowering local voices through rarely explored sonic expressions. Audiences will leave with a deeper appreciation for empathetic listening, and consider the power of collective effort and the part we all play in addressing complex and current social issues.
Exhibition Times:
Saturday 4 May - Sunday 19 May 2024
Wednesdays to Sundays
Doors: 12PM- 5PM. (Closed Monday and Tuesday, except Monday 6 May or by appointment.)
A series of talks to accompany the exhibition.
Making Social Change Happen, with Class Divide on Thursday 9 May 2024, from 6.30-8PM. FREE. Book your place here
Whitehawk Neolithic Camp Guided Walk on Tuesday 14 May 2024, from 6 - 7:30PM. FREE. Book here
ACCESSIBILITY
This event will be held on the ground floor, level access, of Lighthouse Project Space, New England House, Elder Place, York Hill Corner, BN1 4GH . For further information email info@lighthouse.org.uk or call 01273 647197.
About The Artist
The artists are a group of young people from Whitehawk in East Brighton, uninhibited by experience or knowledge and any preconceived ideas of what sound art should be. They bring an instinctive, playful and raw energy; turning sounds inside out, carving new shapes, oscillations and resonances.
Supporting them is Simon James, a self trained sound artist and composer engaging in deep listening to the unheard and hidden - mixing environmental field recordings with electronic sources such as the Buchla Electric Music Box, which over 10 years of exploration and performance has become Simon's main instrument. Simon’s skills with the Buchla have been called upon by Massive Attack, Toy Drum, UNKLE, and Max de Wardener and have featured extensively in Emmy award winning composer Andrew Phillips' soundtracks.
Simon’s compositional approach is exploratory, playful and instinctive, focussed on timbral shaping, finding the sounds in between the sounds and exploring the relationship between these and field recordings.
Sound designs have been created for Heineken, Salesforce, Kaspersky, Dalmore Whiskey, Bushmills, Sheytan Jewellery and The Horror Channel, and in 2023 he produced a multi speaker gallery installation at the RIBA gallery in London. In 2019 Simon visited Shenzhen/Shanghai in China on a British Council residency, exploring the shapes and structures of architecture through sound and music. In 2023 Simon was the recipient of an Arts Council DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) award and used it to focus his practice around listening, the environment and community, which culminated in a residency in the Pyrenees with artists Mark Fell and Michael Von Hauswolff, where he created an interactive installation, ‘Can We Echo the Forest?’.
He has also recorded music as The Simonsound (with DJ Format) Black Channels (for cult soundtrack label Death Waltz) and under his own name for Lo Recordings and Castles in Space Records. An album of architectural resonance and Buchla electronics, 'Sounding the Shadows', is due for release on YYAA Records in 2024. He is currently developing an exhibition, 'Neolithic Cannibals', working with young people from the council estate where he grew up, for Brighton Festival, May 2024.
www.simonsound.co.uk | @thesimonsound
About Class Divide
Class Divide are a grassroots campaign drawing attention to the deeply unjust educational attainment gap in Whitehawk, Manor Farm and Bristol Estate in Brighton and Hove
www.classdivide.co.uk | @divideclass
About Lighthouse
Lighthouse is a charity that supports artists who use digital technology in their work. Their vision is a diverse and inclusive creative sector where digital art and artists are valued and thriving; where everyone, regardless of class, gender or ethnicity, has the confidence to enjoy cultural experiences; the opportunity to unlock their potential; and where every young person is empowered to explore a creative career.
Their mission is to nurture the next generation of diverse, talented, creative people working with digital art and innovative creative technologies; and to support them to become leaders themselves, building a richer cultural landscape for the future.
Funders & Partners
Neolithic Cannibals is a Class Divide project, commissioned by Brighton Festival, in collaboration with Lighthouse. Funded by Brighton Festival and the Chalk Cliff Trust.
Supporting Partners include The Crew Club, Brighton and Hove Museums, Archaeology South East (UCL).
