Straying slightly from my research focus, I wanted to write about my recent experience attending The Other Art Fair at Bristol's Arnolfini. Part of the fair included performances by BitterSuite's Debussy String Quartet: a fully sensory concert in which the audience members are blindfolded, given tastes and scents, and are physically moved by the performers in ways that enhance the experience of listening to the music. It was an enriching experience as I imagined colourful scenes, even jumped a little at times and felt liberated moving with the music in a physical manner. BitterSuite are performing at Wilderness Festival this weekend and are looking to set up more concerts in the long term: http://www.bittersuite.org.uk
The Other Art Fair also included The Art of Dining: a pop-up restaurant scene celebrating quintessentially British food and drink (think fish and chips, bread and butter, lots of tea, and crockery adorned with members of the Royal Family). This immersive experience is created by Ellen Parr and Alice Hodge and includes the work of photographer Martin Parr, whom I have recently become more interested in due to his documentation of British life through photographs. Parr is interested in the difference between the mythology of the place and the reality of it and I feel that this in some ways intersects with my interests in representations of Britishness in popular culture. I hope to attend Parr's keynote address at a conference on Photography and Britishness, which is being held at the Yale Center for British Art this November.
http://www.martinparr.com/2013/pop-up-magic/
