Exhibition & Performances :
Session One : 5 October 2024 Saturday 4pm
Session Two : 5 October Saturday 6pm
Session Three : 6 October Sunday 4pm
Session Four : 6 October Sunday 6pm
£8 | 8 places per session | Please email divfuse@gmail.com for tickets
Why are digital musical instruments so often created using unsustainable materials?
Why are there no commercially available digital instruments that are larger than the performer’s body?
Catastrophone is a new large physically performed synthesizer made of recycled cardboard and paper — specifically collaged images of cats, hence the name!
At two metres wide and tall, Catastrophone looms over the performer, offering large performance surfaces for full-body interaction. Mice’s intricate hand-cut and glued nature-themed paper collages that adorn each performance panel evoke a call-to-action for instrument makers to consider the environmental impact of materials, while the instrument’s sheer size encourages musicians to bring their entire bodies to live electronic music performance.
Within the intimate setting of Project DIVFUSE, Lia Mice’s first solo exhibition show Catastrophone features scheduled performances of the instrument by Lia Mice followed by a short artist talk, Q&A, and an opportunity for the audience to try the instrument themselves. The newest iteration of Catastrophone will be displayed alongside a collection of collage panels previously installed in the instrument when it was shown and performed at the Science Museum, Cafe OTO and IKLECTIK.
Lia Mice is an award winning multidisciplinary artist, educator and pioneering maker of oversized sculptural musical instruments. For over 20 years, Mice has prolifically produced a diverse body of work, frenetically shape shifting through multidisciplinary practices and international music and art scenes. At the core of her creative approach is a joyful DIY ethic: creating with what she has, without waiting for resources or permission. As an mixed media artist of sculptural musical instruments, Mice has shown her instruments at V&A Museum London, Ars Electronica Linz, Tate Modern London, Institute of Contemporary Art London, Deliaphonic Festival Coventry, Sonorities Festival Belfast, International Conference for Computer Human Interaction (CHI) New Orleans and Georgia Tech Atlanta. Mice’s instruments are provocations to the commercial musical instrument industry that focuses on small desktop instruments made of unsustainable materials. Mice builds with reclaimed materials headed for landfill and experiments with creating new eco-friendlier materials. She has collaborated on instrument design projects with Native Instruments, The Barbican, LSO and the OHMI Trust with whom she designed a One-Handed Violin concept.
Mice holds a PhD in Media and Arts Technology from Queen Mary University of London and a Master’s of Music from Goldsmiths London.
www.liamice.com | www.instagram.com/lia_mice | liamice.bandcamp.com