12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
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ShipsidesandBeggsProjects-THEIRONWAY.Pre-Fix,Venice
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THEIRONWAY(Originallytitled'DecimationinD')ShipsidesandBeggsProjectsPerformanceofmusic,sound,spokenword,videoandanimation.Approx90min2017
ShipsidesandBeggsProjectsPRE-FIXMicroclima/CatalystArts.SerraDeiGiardini,VeniceBiennale,2017
AudioVisualperformance/happeningperformedatMicroclimaintheGiardinidellaBiennale,Venice,commissionedbyCatalystArts.Asocio-phenomenological,transversalaudio-visualworkexploringthealtitude,geo-politicallegacies,brutalitiesandstrangepoeticsoftheDolomites’mountainfrontierofWorldWar1.Thespineofthisworkprocessestheelevationdatagatheredfromthefrontierintoasoundscapewhichconnectsandlaterallymorphs‘pata-perceptivelyintosongs,anecdotesandvisualart.
Aboveimages:1,3,4,5,7,8,9,11creditDantoProductions
THEIRONWAYeditsA,BandC:Videodocumentationeditedintonewvideoworks:Thisgivesagoodsenseoftheperformancebutworksbetterasthreeshortstand-aloneeditedartworks.Alotofthematerialhasbeeneditedouttodevelopasimplercoherencyinthecontentandform.
Credits:Live,rawvideoandaudiofootage:DantoProductions.Allotherfootage,audioandediting:ShipsidesandBeggsProjects.
THEIRONWAY.EditpartA.https://vimeo.com/252060855
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 2/8
THEIRONWAY.EditpartB.https://vimeo.com/253665319
THEIRONWAY.EditpartC.https://vimeo.com/253667318
THEIRONWAY.PartA.
15:56
THEIRONWAY.PartB.
12:29
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 3/8
DecimationinDparts1,2,3,4and5:Videodocumentationofthefullevent:Thisgivesagooddocumentastothefullperformanceandallthematerialwithinthework.NB;Somesectionsarereconstructedastheliverecordingwasanotacompleterecordingofthefulldurationoftheevent.
Credits:Live,rawvideoandaudiofootage:DantoProductions.Allotherfootage,audioandediting:ShipsidesandBeggsProjects.
DecimationinD.Part1(of5)https://vimeo.com/247505910
NBOvertheMountainisover-dubbedfromaperformanceatLeBelOrdinare,Pau2016
DecimationinD.Part2(of5)https://vimeo.com/246472025
THEIRONWAY.PartC.
10:45
DecimationinD.Part1(of5)
13:01
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 4/8
DecimationinD.Part3(of5)https://vimeo.com/245453362
DecimationinD.Part4(of5)https://vimeo.com/249078118
DecimationinD.Part2(of5)
22:53
DecimationinD.Part3(of5)
09:12
DecimationinD.Part4(of5)
23:49
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 5/8
NB.Somevaguelymaturematerial.NB.Duetolackofliverecording(thispartwasmissed)theAbjectSummitsectionisover-dubbedfromatalkattheKendalMountainFestivalin2016-hencethedifferenceinsoundqualityandlacklivefootage.Allthevisualsinthe'missing'sectionarefromthematerialprojectedduringthisVeniceperformance.
DecimationinD.Part5(of5)https://vimeo.com/248463234
NB.WARPIGSisover-dubbedfromaperformanceatL'Atelier,Nantesin2017.
TheperformanceoftheDecimationinDpartitionwasinterwovenwiththefollowingsongs:GoingAcrosstheMountain(OldTimer)GoingovertheTop(SBP)FrontierSoldier(SBP)StillNotOutOfTheWoods(SBP)MountainBird(SBP)WarPigs(BlackSabbath)PoorPilgrimofSorrow(OldTimer)JustbeyondtheBorder(SBP)WithdrawingfromtheVisual(SBP)
Videoworksincludedintheliveperformance(orre-editedintothenewworkare)
BIVACCOMASSHERMITVOLUMEYUPASTARZOMBIELINESTILLNOTOUTOFTHEWOODSSHUMMITWARPIGS-KARAOKENOTTANUM–WARPIGSMORTAR|DEVICE
Theworkisanopen-workandwillbere-developedandre-performedtoexplorespecificthemesorresearchindifferentcontextsanddirections–eachtimegeneratingnewmaterialforfurtherresearch.
Text:
Through,video,music,soundandspoken-wordthisperformancefoldstogethernewartworkswithexistingartworks,songsandmaterials.Inmanyaspectsthisperformanceisaconsciousattempttocreateanewspaceacrosstheformatsofamusicgig,anartist’stalk,avideoscreeninganda‘livehappening’.Thenewaspectsofthisworkdeveloplongstandingthemes,topicsandresearchfromthewiderStillNotOutOfTheWoodsumbrellaprojectandmaterial.Inparticular,thisworkre-visitsourItalianDolomitesresearch(whichbeganin2009)stemmingfromourinterestandactivityinclimbingViaFerrrata(seeBIVACCO)andconnectingagainwiththeWW1
DecimationinD.Part5(of5)
18:49
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 6/8
historiesoftheDolomite’smountainouswarfrontier.ThecoreelementofDecimationinDtakesthelineoftheWW1ItalianfrontierfromtheAdriaticseatothehighestpointintheDolomites,whichisMt.Marmolada(PuntaPenia,3343m)thenrightacrossthroughthemountainstothethewestcoast.Transcodingadata-setderivedfromfrontier’selevationheights,takenatregularpointsofthisborder,intosound(usingthesegmentingprincipleinsheet-musicwhichisFrenchiscalledpartition).Thetermpartitionalsoclearlyreferstoconceptsofgeo-politicalseparationsofbordersandtheconstructofthenation-state.Thisaudioprocessproducesaframeworkwhichliterallysoundsoutsthatgeopoliticalandtopologicalfrontier.Wethenusethataudioframework,inaseriesofpartitions,toweaveinexistingandnewsongs(someourown,somecoversof'oldtimer'ormodernorpopularsongsfromthegenresoffolk,rockandpop)usingsound-scapingasbridgingbetweensections.Theinitialsound-scapingbeginswithNealusingasmallironshrapnelball,whichwasfoundonMarmolada,torollalonghisguitarstringsgeneratingapeculiarandparticularsound.Othersound-scapingcomesfromrecordingsdevelopedfromthesoundofkarabinersrunningupthetensionedsteelviaferratawiresinthemountains.Aroundthisthereare‘artisttalk’stylespoken-wordelementswhichspeaktothevideoandstillimageswhicharebeingprojectedandintroduceorinformaboutthesongsandsoundweperform.Ithasaverycasual,openstylewhichattimesishopefullyalsohumorous.Thisisseriousandattimesdarkmaterialbutwegiveourselveslicencetomakeplaywithit.Infactthestrangetreemotif(oftwohandsplacedtogether)referencesthisstrangeplayfulness–theoriginofthetreemotifcomingfromWW1no-mans-landobservationpointswhichweredesignedtolooklikebombedouttreetrunks.Thespoken-wordintroducestheideasofresearchandprocessintermsofthesubjectmatterofgeo-politicalcultureandpolitics–basedaroundhistoriesandexperientialresearch.SowediscussideasoftheViaFerrata(meaningIronWay)asapoeticwayintoarticulationsaroundFascismandModernism,butalsoasawayoutofthoseoppressiveways,intoimaginingfuturemusicandcommunications–theguitarstring,thecounter-culture,electronicmusic(theoscillator)andtheinternet.ThetalkspeaksofalighteningstrikeweencounteredonMarmolada,towhichwebothrespondedwithsmallartworkswhichhereleadus,throughastarmotif,todiscussalinkbetweentheromanticsublimeofmountainousnaturewithit'sawe,terrorandfear,toamorestreetlevelsublimeterrorofNorthernIrishparamilitaries-inparticulartheBritishLoyalistterrorgroupsUDAandUFF.
WethendiscussideasaroundtherealitiesandconceptsofEuropeorEuropa(includingadiscussiononthemostbombedhotelinEurope,theEuropaHotelinBelfast)andcombinethiswitha‘demoralisation’oftheSummit–sothatwemightimagineanabjectsummit(seeSHUMMIT),whereduringWW1mountainsweretunnelledtoexplodetheenemy’sstrategicsummitpositions(seeYUPASTAR).Wethenalsocometosomepotentialforre-articulatingtheconceptofEurope(seeYUPA,RURRP,YORP–thephoneticpronunciationsofEuropebyatwo-year-oldboy).Fromherewefollowthatperiodofhistorytodiscusstheideaofthebicycle(andalsoinanotherlevel,theguitar)asbothatoolofindividualemancipationandavant-gardemotifs(e.g.JarryandDuchamp).Wejuxtaposeorintegratetheideaofthewirewiththebicycle–enclosureandmobility.Butwealsoframethebicycleasanagentofübermasculinityandthesupermalé,withboththeFuturistsandUlsterVolunteers(UVF)formingbicyclebattalions(seeZOMBIELINE).SteveJob’sefficiencyfuelledvisionofthecomputerservingasthe‘bicycleforthemind’thenleadsusintotheeraofmasscommunication,themediaageandtheriseofthenotionofzombie-hood.Allthischimesstronglywiththecontemporarysituationwherethereseemstobeablindsleepwalktothehardpoliticalright,towardsfascism,towardsdeepeningeconomicstructuresthatdrivesandnecessitatesconstantviolence,categoricaloppressionandaregimeofimagerhetorictoconditionsociety.InthissensethefulcrumoftheDecimationinDfrontierpartitionmorphsintotheBlackSabbathsongWarPigs,re-versionedasanelectronickaraoketrack(seeWARPIGS)ahandmadecrankiefilm(seeNottanum-WarPigs)andfollowedbyvideoworks(seeMORTAR|DEVICE)andfurtherfootageandaudiowhichdrawsusoffthemountainanddeeplybackintothewoods.Thewholevideoprojectionitself(whichactsmostlyasilentmovietowhichweaddthelivesoundtrack)constitutesanewvideowork.Itpurposelycombinespreviouswork(asindicatedabove)withnewlyeditedfootageandnewlymadevideoandanimationmaterial.Atheartthisprojecthasbeenamajorre-visitingofthearchiveofItalianresearchthatwehaveundertakenanddrawnfromformanyworks.Thisworkinghoweverreturnsustothestartoftheresearchwhichbeganin2009onourfirsttriptotheDolomites(viaVenice)andtowoodsinthefoothillswherewefirstmadeaSTILLNOTOUTOFTHEWOODStwigtextwork.InthissenseitseemedpertinenttoreturntotheregionandpresentthismaterialinVenice.Theactualperformancebeganinaperiodofchaosastheheavensopenedupwithaheavydownpourofrain.Sothewholeeventwasscrambledtoprovidecoverfortheelectricalequipment–buttheshowwentonandtheresultseemedtobesuccessful–inactuality,unusuallyfor‘artperformances’,therewasacallforan‘encore’whichalloweduspertinently(inrelationtotheVeniceBiennale)toperformWithdrawingfromtheVisualforwhichseveralmembersofthehostorganisationandKeefWinterspontaneouslyjoinedusinplaying.
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 7/8
12/09/2019 Shipsides and Beggs - THE IRON WAY - Pre-Fix Venice
www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/Venice17.html 8/8
ZombieMaskforDecimationinDCommerciallyprintedflyermask.21x29cmeditionof100ShipsidesandBeggsProjects2017
KindlysupportedbytheBritishCouncilandACNI
