AND Abandon Normal Devices in Pennine Lancashire
Earlier this year Pennine Lancashire played host to AND Abandon Normal Devices. AND is a major new festival of New Cinema and Digital Culture for the Northwest and is presented by folly, FACT Foundation for Art and Creative Technology and Cornerhouse. AND has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games and forms part of WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy project.
Highlights of the festival
With 50 artists, film makers and scientists Abandon Normal Devices turned a forest into a technological playground for the future and illuminated a city centre creating opportunities for interaction between new technologies and art.
Participants and audiences discovered the new and were met with the unexpected as AND spilled out into the streets Lancashire with new commissions and plenty of challenges for artists and audiences.
In Burnley Portable Pixel Playground entertained young and old with virtual bugs and sound sculptures with artists breaking boundaries of new technology and art.
The streets of Blackburn were filled with strange apparations and happenings including Strange Attractors - The Anatomy of Dr Tulp by KMA a magical and playful interactive light installation with a magnetic force.
Interface Amnesty by Sound Network & guest artists thrilled with a creative technology car boot for the young and old whilst the MP3 Experiment created by new York based Improv Everywhere where over 80 people put aside their inihibitions and played games orchestrated through an Mp3 download in a flash mob event much to the amazement of Saturday shoppers.
The Cloud Project by Zoe Papadopoulou and Catherine Kramer ran throughout the festival giving audiences an experience to savour as the ice--creams and lead debates about the creation of strawberry flavoured clouds and developments in nanotechnology.
Experience AND again in Manchester 1 – 7 October 2010.
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View AND Festival's Flickr photostream
Feedback from the public
Some quotes from people who took part in the festival taken from Love Culture web link
STRANGE ATTRACTORS - THE ANATOMY OF DR TULP KMA
"Outstanding. Art out of the box and on the street. young and old, all nationalities, disabled and non disabled playing and dancingin the joyous light and sound produced by KMA on the streets of Blackburn. If you missed it here, make effort, no drop everything and go and witness any KMA event yourself. I defy you to be disappointed."
INTERFACE AMNESTY Sound Network & guest artists
"This was the first Interface Amnesty we'd been to, and our first time at ANDfest - it was awesome! Really enjoyed listening to so many amazing sounds, making lot's of noise and seeing all the cool work on display. A great day all round... fun times"
"This is the second Interface Amnesty I'd been to and it nothing short of brilliant. So many tinkers in one room, circuit bending and creating new interfaces."
"Fantastic day - a lively mix of ad-hoc sound installations, hands-on circuit bending and live music device creation"
"Brilliant, literally buzzing. A shop full of creativity, art meeting science meeting enthusiasm meeting innovation. Chrissy Hammond our Artistic Director had a brilliant time and had her 3D photo taken by some of our other favourite people Madlab Manchester."
PORTABLE PIXEL PLAYGROUND
"I loved the virtual bugs. Technically brilliant, but also really fun. I had the embarrassment of pushing a 10 year old out the way so I could play (I’m 40)."
THE CLOUD PROJECT Zoe Papadopoulou and Catherine Kramer
"It's not often that you can find something that is scientific, thought provoking and tasty."
Improv Everywhere
"OMG!!!! had such an amazing time. incredibly wacky and i loved it!!! cant wait to do something similar"
"That was jolly fun"
"Absolutly awesome! would so do it again!"
"That was Brilliant."
Folly
folly is a leading digital arts organisation working across England’s North West presenting an active artistic programme that provides creative interaction and collaboration between artists and the wider public using technology. folly commissions, exhibits, promotes and supports creative work and innovation with a strong emphasis on the use of online media, networked systems and integrated technologies. It delivers a year round diverse and innovative programme of online projects, events, festival activities, artist commissions, exhibitions, artist residencies, workshops and conferences. Through projects like Abandon Normal Devices Festival, Portable Pixel Playground, Digital Artists' Handbook and Love Culture, folly is committed to enabling and working with new audiences, seeking to explore how society makes sense of the world through art and technology.
