a final act

Well that’s it for another wee while.

We’d like to thank everyone who came along over the weekend to watch see some incredible art, hear some brilliant music, watch some inspiring films and listen to some fantastic poetry.

The whole point of Hidden Door was to try and make something together, as artists, without any kind of big-daddy institutional backing or agenda, that isn't just another gig or show., but something that genuinely brings about something new, something fresh and something genuinely deeply creative, as a collective enterprise. 

the view from stage 1 during the grand finale

The only sad note is that the Roxy Art House has been closed down. It's such a shame that Edinburgh has lost one of the most open-minded and up-for-it venues, without warning, and it's awful for Director Rupert and Manager Morv especially who put their heart and soul into the place.

So it was a privilege to be able to have our Hidden Door as the last event - the swan song for the Roxy Art House if you like. It was a blast and it's been a real pleasure to meet so many inspiring people.

We’ll see you at Hidden Door 3!

Accidental Media

Tucked away amongst the 40 films that we'll be showing at Hidden Door this weekend are a couple of gems from Accidental Media.

The Shutdown was Directed by Adam Stafford and produced by Peter Gerard & Leo Bruges. In this film Alan Bissett recalls the intense experience of growing up next to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants and the harrowing experience of an explosion that temporarily deformed his father.

Motion/Static was directed by Peter Gerard and produced by Andy Green. Here a childhood dream of travelling funfairs dances with the reality of a family manufacturing thrill-rides and their life on the road.

These films will be shown on Sunday in the Hidden Cinema. 

General Musical Awesomeness

Time to dangle some more musical carrots before your inquisitive little noses (and ears). This time around at Hidden Door we’re delighted to be showcasing some top-notch musical talent from all over Scotland, including the foot-stomping energy of Glasgow-based Washington Irving and the magical soundscapes of Dundee-based Esperi.

And the thing that makes Hidden Door so unique is the emphasis on collaboration. One of the many highlights of Hidden Door 2 is set to be an epic 4-band collaborative set, performed for the first time ever on 4 of our sculpted stages and brought to you by some of Glasgow’s most talked-about acts: Jo Mango, Bear Bones, Open Swimmer, and The Social Services. Nobody knows yet quite what it’s going to sound like but we do have some inside information and we can tell you it’s going to involve at least 14 voices, two drum-kits, a smattering of guitars, one omnichord, two clarinets, one shruti box, two glockenspiels, one autoharp, one accordion, one harmonium, three bass guitars, one set of hand bells, one trumpet, one melodica, one banjo, one kalimba, one ukelele and at least one saxophone. Wowzing. Don’t miss it, good people.

How to build a festival...part 1

Our first day of building Hidden Door at the Roxy Art House...


Hidden Door Festival Preparation - Day1 from Julien Pearly / Pundigrion Films on Vimeo.

Radio Killed the Video Star

The very talented David Martin and Andrew Philip were on BBC Radio Scotland today as part of the Culture Cafe. Have a listen to them here again - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vc381

The lovely Ed Stack will be on Leith FM on Wednesday evening at 10pm talking about his role curating the music at Hidden Door.

Building

Well, we’ve begun the build in the Roxy Art House. A multitude of wondrous items are being assembled for your delectation and delight. We’ve got sails being rigged, grass being laid, towers being built and smoke coming from the weirdest of places.

The Director of Hidden Door, Dave Martin, begins drilling

If you cant wait until Friday to get your Hidden Door fix then tune into the Culture Café on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday from 1:45pm to hear Andy Philip and Dave Martin talking about the festival. 

Digital Jones

What? You’ve not heard about our awesome line-up? Just as well we’re giving you sneaky little peeks into the musical world of awesomeness that we’re creating for Hidden Door 2.

First up, we have the lovely Digital Jones who released their debut album C LICK CLACK at the end of July and who played at the our first Hidden Door event in January.  Digital Jones was founded by Philip Mcbride and Nikki Kent who share a mutual affection for all thing P funk, Disco and Electro. Nikki has a truly mesmerising voice and Phil is a master of computer synth funk. Have a listen here. 

Kona Macphee

In recent years there's been a fashionable rash of Saying Yes - to everything from dating requests to - well - everything. While certain junior members of my family might contend that I never say yes to anything, these days I always try to accept commissions and project invitations, unless there's some inescapably huge reason to turn them down. I do this for two reasons - the first mainly pragmatic, the second more philosophical.


On the practical front, since late 2007 I've had a Poem Of The Week blog, which cured a seemingly unshiftable case of creative block, and whose relentless weekly deadlines I must therefore, rather superstitiously, continue to meet at all costs. The very constraints of a commission - for example, the Hidden Door theme of "Impossible Journeys" - can be a paradoxically rich source of inspiration, in just the same way that a strict form (such as a sonnet or sestina) can actually help a poet to write about a difficult subject.

Finding inspiration for poems is one thing, but there's the bigger question about why we might want to get our poems out into the world in the first place. Given the impossibility of actually making a living as a poet, one thing we may still hope for is that our poetry "career" might bring us a richer and more interesting life, a life that takes us in unexpected and stimulating directions. Commissions and projects, especially new, grass-roots or multi-disciplinary ones, act as a conduit for serendipity - people to meet, ideas and happenings to encounter, coincindences, synchronicities, sparks - and serendipity, rather than a Five Year Plan, is the wellspring of most of life's best adventures.


Hidden Door has been a particularly appealing project for me because of its multi-arts approach. As an "I'm-really-a-musician-at-heart" kind of poet, I always enjoy events involving poetry and music, and as a part-time IT geek, I'm very interested in how computer animation/digital art and poetry might intersect, so the chance to plug into Edinburgh's wonderful visual arts network is very exciting. The best bit for me, though, is that thanks to Hidden Door I've managed to have my Impossible Journeys poem "Prodigal" studio-recorded by Alastair Cook, whose sublime reading voice I've adored since the first time I heard it. I hope that Hidden Door visitors will find the result as spine-tingling as I do!


Kona Macphee grew up in Australia and now lives in Scotland. Her latest collection, "Perfect Blue" (Bloodaxe Books 2010), includes a free e-Book of commentaries intended to support new readers of poetry. The remaining copies of her first collection, "Tails" (Bloodaxe Books 2004), are being sold to raise money for UNICEF. Kona writes a monthly blog column for the Scottish Poetry Library.

Ten Tracks

Hidden Door works extremely closely in partnership with Ten Tracks and in particular, its director Ed Stack.

"We work with Hidden Door because it operates at the vanguard of events curation and organisation.It's more than forward-thinking and all-embracing in its ambitions: each artform is unusually responsive to the others, so much so that the relationship between the artforms becomes the focus of the event (much more so this time than at the first Hidden Door in January).

We believe that events should encourage inclusivity and cultural pluralism underpinned by a sense of respect between different specialisms, not complete separation between them, and Hidden Door serves exactly this cohesive function.

Hidden Door and Ten Tracks work well together because the event's artform-inclusive curation format maps well onto the eclectic 'mixtape' format of the music output on www.tentracks.co.uk.  Ten Tracks in turn releases music to celebrate and publicise the event.  This partnership is one of the things that makes us more than just an on-line music shop - and this kind of added value applies to everyone taking part.

Nothing I have come across before or since Hidden Door 1 has defined 'greater than the sum of its parts' more (and surprisingly few even aim to achieve that, or realise it's something worth achieving).  But it's a wonder why - because it's so rewarding."

American Men

One of the main tasks that the Ten Tracks team have been working on is the the five band collaboration between Dead Boy Robotics, Lipsync for a Lullaby,  The Foundling Wheel, Tokamak, and  American Men, (LuckyMe). On Friday whilst playing their straight sets, 5 bands are filmed in a totally unique way, using a succession of numerous pin-hole cameras. Each photo subsequently becomes a frame in a film reel that is edited to create the impression of a high-end digital 3D tracking shot, but by means of this most basic analog photographic technique captured on regular photographic paper. Saturday sees the development and editing / post-production of the footage into visuals for the show on Sunday. On Sunday the bands play again, simultaneously installed on all 5 stages/playing a composition seamlessly between the stages, culminating in a finale that involves all the bands, and is accompanied by visuals from the prepared film reel.

Confused? Come along and see for yourself!

www.hiddendoor.org 

Tickets

Got your Hidden Door ticket yet? If not, don’t worry there are still a few tickets left if you know the right places to look. Our early bird tickets might be gone but you could try Ripping Records or Tickets Scotland in Edinburgh. Or, if you’re Glasgow based you head along to Tickets Scotland on Argyle Street.

Further afield? You can get our tickets online at www.hiddedoor.org

See you soon! 

The Garden

The Roxy Art House theatre is to be transformed into the Garden a space of wonderment, this might be a place to escape the hubbub of music and entertainment, but allow time for some extensive exploration. The upper most floor will become a plentiful garden of blossoming plants, turf and artwork combined- it might be October but this will feel more like June, enjoying a lounge on the lush grass indulging in the delicious delights of Susie's Diner and taking in the artwork which will surround you. The room will incorporate the work of over 15 artists, ranging from installation, to film, painting and sculpture- a rabbit warren of pods will create a network of experience leading to the top of the turfed 'hill', from which you will emerge enlightened, and if not quite enlightened then you will certainly depart surprised by what lay beyond the picket fence and garden gate...

Fran Miller

CinemaAttic

Hidden Door was created just as much for the artists involved as it is for the audience and for our second festival collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. One partner that we’re really excited to be collaborating with is CinemaAttic and it’s director, Carlos.

“We have just partnered with Hidden Door, the future of cinematic arts in the city's cultural scene. If you love cinema then plug in to Impossible Journeys, an experience that draws on what we love of cinema while transforming the medium in its own subtle way. Curated by CinemaAttic and based on an original idea by Hidden Door, we are presenting a fresh and powerful set of Spanish short films that are inspired by/that touch on/that capture the essence of cinema and the endlessness of the human being.

The Hidden Cinema can be found in the Roxy Bar from the 22^nd-24^th October as part of the Hidden Door Festival.

The Filmpoem

The combination of film and poetry is an attractive one. For the poet, perhaps a hope that the filmmaker will bring something to the poem: a new audience, a visual attraction, the laying of way markers; for the filmmaker, a fixed parameter to respond to, the power of a text sparking the imagination with visual connections and metaphor. A filmpoem is a single entwined entity, a melting, a cleaving together of words, sound and vision. It is an attempt to take a poem and present it through a medium that will create a new artwork, separate from the original poem. Poetry often tries to deal with the abstract world of thought and feeling, rather than the literal world of things. The filmpoem is the perfect marriage of the two.









-ed from Alastair Cook on Vimeo.



Alastair Cook’s filmpoems can be seen at http://filmpoem.com and his artistic work at http://alastaircook.com/ 
He is currently working on a filmpoem for Andrew Philip’s poem, ‘MacAdam Takes to the Sea’ the Hidden Door poetry project Impossible Journeys. Two of his filmpoems, ‘Scene’ and ‘Emily Melting’, are being screened at the ZEBRA Film Festival in Berlin this month.

Visuals

Our second festival is rapidly approaching but there are still lots of ways you can get involved. At the moment we're looking for all sorts of visuals (old or new, short or long) to accompany the bands who'll be playing on our amazing stages. We are also asking film makers to submit silent films that, if selected, one of the bands will then compose a score for.

Mostly the visuals are to accompany the bands but The Cabinet of Living Cinema want to compose music to some visuals so they will choose 1 or more of the submitted films and compose its score. 
Work created to a brief:We are also looking for visuals created in response to particular briefs: Both visuals created in response to a brief set by a stage/installation team, and those created in response to the music of a band.
Stage briefs:There are 3 stages/installations that would like to have visuals for projection. Their briefs are as follows:
Stage 1:The theme for the stage is mechansims and  machinery and moving-parts, so we would be looking for visuals that related to that theme in any way.

We are looking for short chunks of footage - approx 5 mins long that can be edited together if need be. It can be fairly abstract, slo mo etc - to be effective as different bands are playing.
The films will be projected onto 2 screens either side of the stage. The 'screens' will actually be made of several screens overlapping, so the image will be broken up slightly when seen from angles, and will play across different planes, with sometimes parts of the image not visible.

It will be possible to focus on one single screen for certain works, but the overall idea is an image to be played over a split-up surface.
There will also be some cameramen filming and feeding their visuals to this stage, so we are also looking for anyone who would be interested in mixing this live feed with some other footage.
Stage 4:This stage would like non narrative visuals, particularly abstract colourful ones, that could be projected onto giant fans that will appear from the stage.
Stage 5:High colour or high contrast visuals to be projected into small shapes along the stage. 

Submission instructions:

We would like all visuals to be submitted on 2 dvds 
1 dvd should be a play on insertion (no menu) dvd lasting 50 mins (most likely with your material looped many times). The other dvd should be a data dvd with simply a .mov, .mp4, or .m4v file of your footage in its original (non-looped) length. Dimension wise 960x540 is fine. This will allow us to combine it with other footage to make a program that will last a set. If we have enough material, we will do this, rather than play the looped versions. All films should be silent.

Please send all dvds to:

Hidden Door
2F3
19 Panmure Place
Edinburgh EH3 9HP

Please ensure the dvds arrive by the 18th October

If you have already submitted a film for screening at Hidden Door and you would like it to be considered for projection during the bands’ performances, please send an email stating this. 

If you have any questions at all, please email Genevieve at genbicknell@gmail.com

If your film is selected you will get a free pass to the session of the festival that your film will be screened in.

Impossible Journeys

Impossible Journeys is an exciting poetry project that brings this powerful, intimate art form into the heart of the Hidden Door experience. Ten new poems written to the theme Impossible Journeys are being recorded and installed throughout the venue for the audience to discover and listen to, forming a thread that weaves through the disparate goings on in the different spaces. 






We've a fantastic list of poets, running from well-established names such as WN Herbert and David Kinloch right through to newcomers yet to publish a full collection. You'll be able to catch a number of them reading at HD2. The full roster of Impossible Journeys poets is: Claire Askew, Dave Coates, WN Herbert, David Kinloch, Rob A Mackenzie, Jane McKie, Kona Macphee, Andrew Philip, Eleanor Rees and JL Williams.






There's a whole other dimension to the project too: several poets are collaborating with visual artists for their installations. So far, we have artist who work in painting, film and neon lined up with, hopefully, more to come. Arists involved include: Alastair Cook, Christiane Kelegher, Val McLean and Greer Pester.

Stage 1

Martin McGuinness

The idea for stage 1 was to create a stage on a stage on a stage! The constructed stage sits on top of the old Roxy stage platform and projects out into the space, completing the ring of stages. The plan is to have a raised platform on top of this stage for the exciting trio of Dundee-based artists, Martin McGuiness, Fraser Gray and Richie Cummings to work on throughout the weekend creating paintings and projection pieces above the bands as they play. 

Behind this stage we have created a secret space where another Dundee artist, Katherine Murphy will make more live work, again based on the figure. In fact all the visual artists who will have their work woven into this complex stage structure have the human figure at the centre of their work. Ben Davies Jenkins, a hit at the last Hidden Door, will have his paintings incorporated into the structure of the stage, as will Eric Oliviera, a london-based photographer. I will have paintings of my own embedded into the very fabric of the stage also.

RBRBR

Stage 1 is probably the busiest stage of the event, hosting more bands than any of the other stages in the space, including such yalent as RBRBR, The Social Services, Chris Bradley of Aberfeldy, and Hidden Orchestra (formerly Joe Acheson Quartet). The look of the stage will comprise of an explosion of frames and screens that will be projected onto by various film makers during the bands' performances.



It promises to be a visual as well as a sonic feast.
DM

Line-up

We're absolutely delighted to be able to announce our line-up for the second Hidden Door Festival. We've got some great musicians playing including the Hidden Orchestra, Urban Farm Hand, RBRBR and the awesome American Men (LuckyMe). Full details are below and tickets are available from Joseph Pearce's in Edinburgh (cheap at only £7!) or online here

22^nd October 2010, 7pm - Midnight

Friday Evening

Main Space

19:15 – Tokamak

20:00 – Lipsync for a Lullaby

20:45 – The Foundling Wheel

21:30 – Dead Boy Robotics

22:15 – American Men

Roxy Room

19:00 - Yusuf Azak

20:00 – Lady North

21:00 - John Knox Sex Club

22:00 - Washington Irving

Please Note:  Hidden Door will open with a spectacular film and music event featuring a collaboration between 5 bands, the audience and the film makers.  For this reason we ask that you are there for the beginning of the event. Latecomers may not be admitted after 7.30pm!

23^rd October 2010, 1pm – 8pm

Saturday afternoon

Main Space

13:15 – Open Swimmer

14:00 – Aki

14:30 – Alastair Cook and Luca Nasciuti

15:00 – Bear Bones

15:45 – Kieron Maguire

16:30 – White Heath

17:15 – John Kellock

17:30 – Izo Fitzroy and the Royal Bastards

18:15 – John Kellock

18:30 – Social Services, Jo Mango, Open Swimmer and Bear Bones

19:15 – Iliop

23^rd October 2010, 6pm – Midnight

Saturday Evening

Main Space

18:15 – John Kellock

18:30 – Social Services, Jo Mango, Open Swimmer and Bear Bones

19:15 – Iliop

20:00 – Asthmatic Astronaut

20:45 – Digital Jones

21:30 – Pooch

22:15 - RBRBR

Roxy Room

19:15 – Lewis Gibson and the Midas Touch

20:15 – Small Feet, Little Toes

21:15 – Jo Mango

22:15 – Black Diamond Express

24^th October 2010, 1pm – 8pm

Sunday Afternoon

Main Space

13:45 – Kieron Maguire

14:30 – SILENI

15:00 – Tom Adams

15:45 – Winter Greens

16:15 – Alastair Cook and Luca Nasciuti

17:30 – Esperi

18:15 – Iona Marshall

19:00 – Social Services

19:45 – Chris Bradley

24^th October 2010, 6pm – Midnight

Sunday Evening

18:15 – Iona Marshall

19:00 – Social Services

19:45 – Chris Bradley

20:30 – Urban Farm Hand

21:15 – Hidden Orchestra

21:45 – HornDogs

22:00 – The Blessings

22:15 – Not Squares, Lipsync for a Lullaby, The Foundling Wheel, Tokamak, American Men

Roxy Room

19:00 – Zebra

19:45 – Comma

20:15 – Mighty Moth Magnets

21:15 – House of La

22:15 - Endor

Early Bird Tickets

Because we like you guys so much we've decided to let you in on a little secret. We're selling some early bird tickets at Joseph Pearce's from tonight. They're at the bargain price of £7 instead of £10 so why treat yourself (and your friends, and your family, and anyone else who has awesome taste).

Go on. 

p.s JP's do a grand pint. 

Impossible Interactions Test Run

The Impossible interactions group had a test-run of all the installations, and it's sounding and looking amazing.

Lauren's Tactile Interfaces should be delightfully squeezable, Jung In's Sonic Bellas provide a momentary space of sanctuary, Chris and Paddy are working on a dancing/beat machine, Sarah's lighting controller is a puzzle to solve, analogue smearing courtesy of Michael G. and the mysterious Dan needs elbow pads!

What's it all about?! An interactive room of art / music where anyone can play the 'instruments' on offer, this will be in the downstairs room of the festival, but be careful, the devices have a mind of their own...

MB

Stage 2

In charge of stage 2 is the sublime Katy Thomson and her posse of ladies (actually, there probably are some gents helping out too but lets not be picky.) 

Kirsty Fenton

This is another stage that will change layout in accordance with the performances as there will be a collection of packing crate boxes on the stage that can be moved around as the musicians change. For some of the boxes there will be lights and mirrors inside which will bounce light and shadow fracturing the solid wooden structure, and in others there will have work from artists Kirsty Fenton and Vanessa Boyd. 

Vanessa Boyd

The boxes will be partially see-through and allow the viewer an alternative 'peep-hole' perspective of the stage from the sides and back.

As if that wasn’t enough stage 2 want to rig an enormous sail that reaches from the stage up to the very top of the ceiling. This will be used as a multi-plane projection screen and shadowcasting space and will act as a continuation of the sails that are already in situ in the roxy hall. The stage will have an exploratory space around the back continuing our theme of altering the perspective within which the viewer can watch the bands. 

Excited? We are! 

Hidden Door Dates

Woohoo! We are extremely happy to announce that the next Hidden Door Festival will take place at the Roxy Art House in Edinburgh on Friday 22^nd, Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th of October! Yes, that’s right, we’ve got so many amazing things in store that we've added in an extra session to fit it all in!

We’ll be releasing more information about our lineup and where you can get tickets shortly but keep checking facebook and twitter as we may have a little surprise up our sleeves for any early birds out there…