Raven inspired performance to take place at The Margate School

May 22, 2020 Kathy Bailes Events 0

German-British artist UKD is undertaking a performance in Margate as part of the project Bed-in @ The Margate School: Stop the War.

UKD is influenced by artist Joseph Beuys and grew up in the same district in Germany. Beuys’ concept of Social Sculpture had a profound influence on UKD.

The project combines sculpture, poetry, protest and also sound performance with a number of artists and others contributing.

The sculpture of a Raven has been created this month using recycled materials, timber, metal and tissue paper, some of which was found in The Margate School the former Woolworths building.

The Raven sits on a piece of timber that formed part of an old shipwreck but came apart and was retrieved several years ago.

The bed in project, which began on May 7, was inspired by last year’s 50th anniversary of Yoko Ono’s and John Lennon Bed-ins for Peace in Amsterdam and Montreal.

The performance seeks to demonstrate how the current crisis is an opportunity to reflect on our human condition with love at its centre and that we need to move towards an understanding of the process of mediation, transformation and the potential of healing.

The performance will take place tomorrow (May 23) at 9pm at The Margate School in the High Street. It will last approximately 20 – 30 minutes and will combine the bed-in installation and the sculpture together with artists performing and a short collaborative sound piece by sound artists Jacob Calland and Cam Griff in response to the installation.

Cam and Jacob have, in response to the work undertaken by UKD during the bed in project at The Margate School this month, created a sound piece that attempts to encapsulate the varied themes explored in the project.

They have used field recordings taken along Thanet’s coast, elements of sounds from the films of Yoko Ono, recordings of found objects and Poe’s narrative poem The Raven.

The piece has been a collaboration between artists as well as using Poe’s words, physical material, the architecture of TMS, and Margate itself.

The performance will be live streamed on The Margate School facebook page. People can also come to the school to view the performance through the front window as long as social distancing is observed.