The third version of "Impromptu presents Late Works", the first incarnation of Late Works, where a group of musicians spontaneously improvised music in response to two painted folding dressing screens.
The musicians are asked to respond for a total of 30 minutes to each screen, with them being rotated midway. The screen itself stands in front of both the audience and the musicians, with everyone - including the musicians - experiencing it simultaneously, and for the first time.
/ɪmˈprɒmp.tʃuː/
• done without being planned or rehearsed
• a short piece of instrumental music, especially a solo, that is reminiscent of an improvisation
• The panels for the screens should be found by chance, on the side of the road, then assembled and given to the artists to paint. The artists then have exactly a month to finish the work.
• The musicians respond to the first side for roughly 15 minutes, with the screen being turned around at the end at an appropriate moment, allowing the musicians to respond for a further 15 minutes. The performance shouldn’t be interrupted by the turning of the screen.
Artists:
Alice Bloomfield
Fergus Polglase
Musicians:
Evan Abell
Tara Cunningham
Lluis Domènech Plana
Jordan Hadfield
Jesse Doniach Hughes
Billy Leach
Joe Maclaren
Musicians selected by:
Billy Leach
Filmed & edited by:
Mathias Karl Gontard
Additional footage by:
Leo Douglas-Morris Benavides
Lara Laeverenz
Concept, curation & screens built:
Joseph Bradley Hill
With thanks to Chris Greenwood at Louie Louie!
Lend a Cig, 2018
171 x 185.5 cm
made in response to Alice Bloomfield's screen of the same name
36:15
I left a poem with the weapon, 2018
114 x 162.5 cm
made in response to Fergus Polglase's screen of the same name
31:52
aka / part of
Working across both traditional and digital mediums, London based Alice Bloomfield’s art embraces human emotion, sex and love through illustrated and animated works. Describing her art as ‘opulent, perturbing and sleazy’, Alice’s visual identity lends its hand to a style reminiscent of Manga with exaggerated body features and cool hues. As an artist, Alice believes exploring as many mediums as possible is important which is why she hopes to experiment with 3D animation in the future: just another medium to add to her extensive list of painting, music video sets, digital projections and more. For Alice, the journey is what really matters; she says stepping out of her comfort zone is a step in the right direction.
Participant in Late Works:
Paperweight I, LOOP, 3, By Ear
aka / part of
Fergus Polglase paints colourful highly imaginative & often humorous works that predominantly explore subjects on pop culture, violence & masculinity in various forms. His paintings are frequently semi-improvised, letting the story of the piece unfold as he paints; with layer upon layer slowly revealing & presenting new ideas & directions until the finished work has finally formed.
Participant in Late Works:
Paperweight, 3, By Ear, SLIP
aka / part of
Billy Leach is a composer and musician from London. Billy's event series and group of improvising musicians Impromptu in 2018 inspired Late Works to come into fruition, with the musicians continuing to perform at subsequent Late Works events.
Participant in Late Works:
ONE, TWO, 3, of Noise, 4
aka / part of
A recent graduate of trinity Laban conservatoire achieving a first class Hons’ in Jazz performance, pianist Jesse Doniach joins the wave of young talent emerging from the London jazz scene. Originally hailing from East London himself, he has already built up a vast array of performing experience playing at venues such as Electric Brixton and La Villette in Paris, as well as gigging around England with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. His style drawing on a wide range of influences, he credits the likes of Thelonious Monk and past teachers Ricardo Del Fra and Aaron Parks (whom he studied with during a year spent at Conservatoire de Paris in 2019) as having major impacts on shaping his sound.
Participant in Late Works:
ONE, TWO, 3, 4
aka / part of
Participant in Late Works:
ONE, TWO, 3, 4
aka / part of
Participant in Late Works:
ONE, 3, 4
aka / part of
Participant in Late Works:
3
aka / part of
Bovine guitarist who likes oats!!
Participant in Late Works:
ONE, TWO, 3, By Ear