Vole + Films of Miranda Pennell

Event information

Voles may be surprisingly timid and shy creatures, but the group Vole, led by trumpeter Roland Ramanan are anything but. Tightly-wired compositions, stuffed with improv grooves, spin out from the guitar of Roberto Sassi, alongside the pin-precise drums of Tom Greenhalgh, yet at some point all the stays are going to be loosened: Vole will let fly and all bets are off: funking, punking improvisation played with all the raucous glee of naughty children. The quartet are all mainstays of the London improv scene (having played with the likes of Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Pat Thomas and Alexander Hawkins). Ricardo Tejero, sax,now resident in Madrid, will be reunited with Vole for this occasion. Vole will play two sets with the films of Miranda Pennell in between.

The 2 short films by artist, Miranda Pennell: 'Drum Room' and 'Tattoo', both explore rhythm and movement.

Miranda Pennell trained in contemporary dance, and later studied visual anthropology. Her film and video work explores different forms of collective performance. Pennell's work includes mixed programs and group exhibition at Tate Britain (2016), Whitechapel Gallery (2015), Museum of Modern Art Vienna (2012), Kunsthaus Zurich (2015). Retrospective programs of her work include those at Glasgow Short Film Festival (2011), Oberhausen Short Film Festival (2006), Vienna International Shorts (2011), Tampere Short Film Festival (2009). She is based in London and her work is distributed by LUX.

"As she films the musicians, Miranda Pennell also films the visual and sound recuperations they provoke: attention to movement (drum sticks rotating against blue background) as much as the sound created by the instrument. She illustrates very well the idea that the beauty of musical interpretation lies in the physical presence of the musician and the manner in which this presence inhabits the space. Sound becomes a form that colours silence." Christian Borghino