666_events

six day global happening
read - respond - relax - repeat
January 23rd - 28th 2012
www.sixhundredandsixtysixevents.com



project statement
666_events will take place over six days at the end of January 2012. People, whoever they are and wherever they happen to be are invited to take part in a global performance, interpreting short instructions, producing all manner of results. Each of the six events will last an entire day, repeated, exactly or totally differently, 111 times, in quick succession or freely/precisely spaced. If each repetition were to last thirteen minutes, then the participants day would be totally engulfed, however, make each repetition last a couple of seconds and ninety-nine per cent of the day is left free. Performances can be meticulously planned in advance or spontaneously improvised on the day. Participants need not complete every event, but are free to pick and choose, following the time zone of their country. It is hoped, but not obligatory, that performances will be documented, in audio/visual form, or more abstractly in poetry, sculpture or sketch. However, this is not the central aim of the project and no-one need even know a performance has happened. Performances themselves can span the spectrum from private, unobserved and solitary to extravagant, collaborative and public. There are of course, as many ways to interpret these instructions as there are people to read them, wherein lies the focus of the excitement, coupled with knowing that somewhere in the world someone else may well be asking the same silly, serious, surreal or standard questions. Also, they need not be physical, but can be of the mind, perhaps more spiritually concentrated. Ultimately every question asked, action taken and energy expended is part of a much larger, shared experience, called, 666_events.



Monday 23rd January
Cut into an item of clothing you are wearing

Tuesday 24th January
Compose and deliver a nonsense email

Wednesday 25th January
Stop a stranger and ask for directions to a place that doesn’t exist

Thursday 26th January
Post an unnecessary notice on a wall

Friday 27th January
Read a line of text written by the Marquis de Sade

Saturday 28th January
Write a message on a paper aeroplane and deliver it to the air … Read More

Matthew Lee Knowles graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2008 and has written many theatre scores and happenings, over 100 poems, around 500 musical compositions (from solo to orchestral), almost 2000 word-events and has being increasingly become involved in performance art and booklet making (Ballet (2009), Waiting For Godot (2008-10))Text is extremely important in his work and conceptual poetry pieces include SEVEN - the first seven syllables of every sentence extracted from a London newspaper, Verlaine where all words ending -ing were taken from 170 translated poems by Verlaine and Voices: 168 poems using only one, two, three and four letter words.As a pianist Matthew has performed Stockhausens Goldstaub for the BBC/SAN (which required him to live without food, thought or sleep for four days and improvise at the piano for five minutes), Kondo's Metaphonesis and his own composition in a video performance by Brandon Labelle (Cloudy) in Wilton's Music Hall, London. Highlights in 2009 included, curating a happening in a library (Around This House), performing solo for the BMIC music mart (Solo For Person), improvising at the piano to over 1000 people in India, performing as a musician in a dance festival in Spain and forming a new spokenwordmusic trio KLK. He was performer/composer in residence for Notations and The Voice and Nothing More, both curated by Sam Belinfante/Neil Luck and spent two weeks writing and performing in Lithuania and headlined a festival in Sardinia with Neil, presenting an eighty minute set for Miniere Sonore.For eight months last year Matthew opened his house to artists, composers and musicians once a month for SNIFF (Sunday Night Is Frolics Fun) to perform, drink and share ideas.INTO magazine (Sound and Music) recently published an article by Matthew entitled How To Make Things Happen which discusses recent projects and how they were made possible.sixty_six_events - a collaboration with Andy Ingamells is a global performance project following the success of six_events in 2008 which was performed in 29 countries over six days. It will take place over a 24 hour period on the 21st January 2010.Matthew lives and works in East London and teaches Piano across London., … Read More