Performing Industry

A collaborative performance with g8 artists, musician Peter Wyeth and experimental rock band Rattle exploring soundscapes, drawing and objects that reflect the themes in the ‘Memories of Industry’ exhibition at Attenborough Arts Centre in 2017.

The performance came together using The Workforce Symphony, a soundtrack produced for the Memories of Industry exhibition, including sounds of machinery, people working in factories and interviews with retired industrialists. The Memories of Industry exhibition explored the influence of Leicester’s industrial legacy on its urban and natural landscapes and featured artwork by contemporary artists Diane E Hall, Graham Ensor and Robert Thacker.

Performing industry had a changing tempo, which matched the idea of factory life and working long hours by mimicking the rhythmic sounds of machinery using a variety of percussive instruments, guitar (with violin bow), drums, field recordings, loop pedal and a pair of iron cobbler’s shoes and hammer. Peter’s melancholic vocals accompanied the sounds and monochrome animations to describe a daily walk through the city of Leicester on his way to work, describing the buildings, shops and factories that he once saw, which have now gone.