7/8th of a second , a hugely ambitious arts funded event which took place in a B'ham park , was our first experience of participating in an event of this nature. it came at a time when some of us involved in the oscillate club nights were feeling an urge to explore slightly new areas ,so this was a welcome opportunity to try something a little different.

Invited to participate by installation artist Jony Easterby, we were given the area of the park bandstand in which to do what we wished, while other areas of the park were taken over by an assortment of artists.

On the sound front bobby from hia hired in a unique multi channel sound diffusion system (known as the BEAST & owned by B'ham University), and over the 6 hours the event took place, played a selection of live & pre recorded pieces, many of them written for the event. Fosit built one of his large & unique sculptures as a center piece in the middle of the bandstand, with four smaller ones around the edge, while magda ,ben & sarah jane ,constructed 'morphing butterfly slices ' (c rob shroom!)for the bandstand ceiling, and covered the roof with blinking bicycle lights. Invaluable climbing skills were provided by the 'oscillate rock climbers' a group of climbing enthusiasts from stafford ,who had been helping us hang things up at past oscillates

setting up / hia / young arrival

The best laid plans / how it really looked

review by the shroom crew

just thought I'd rattle off a quick note to express how much we all enjoyed saturday.It was very evident how much planning & work had gone into the event, & it left us all wishing it had been an allnighter walking up to the band stand as the evening had worn into a thin layer off blackness, catching sight of what seemed to be some sort of captured butterfly slowly morphing its colours was a real trick and treat.Thanks for that,seeing lighting work like that outside kicked my imagination over.After years of club culture and four walls you really helped me extend my thinking. bobby & the beast. Wot a concept! Do my head in I said & you did.I've never walked through a world of sound like it,it looked like a lot of sweat to keep that running, but every time I/we walked round/through/up & over and felt the sound run literally through ourselves, half the time it was difficult to believe it.Truly an imaginative installation.The HIA/Biosphere tracks were gobsmaking for the second time around and will be remembered as thats how they should be heard, not through volume but as a movement through space. Our little group splintered and found ourselves within the envelope of sound from the oscillate installation,backed up by the pipes, in view of the waterfront. SOUNDS+SIGHTS=STIMULATION Shame the next two hours were spent listening to a stereo that had difficulty drowning out the engine noise. But there you go ...why cant you move Birmingham nearer to London. Thanks again for letting us know about 7/8ths, im off now to steal some drainage pipes ...I wonder if they are available in any other colour than yellow?

YOURS IN BEWILDERMENT

ROB & the SHROOM CREW

list of other participants

The Sound field by mark anderton - an area of hundreds of miniature samplers buried in the ground

Noisegate - incredibly huge yellow tubes with sound sent thru them

Matsubon by max eastly delicately beautiful sound sculptures in the Japanese garden

An angel called gravity by Ann bean - a series of balloons with small lights & samplers in them, later released into the sky

Hexaphonic sound system by jony easterby & brian duffy -in a whitend out tennis court, music speakers with talcum powder on top,bubbling & dancing in shapes in response to the sound vibrations

Peter appleton - midiwater piano

Blissbody - walking speakerheads piece