It’s not often I get to opportunity show my work in an actual gallery these days such is the plight of the socially engaged / process based artist, and it makes me remember how much I love the process of developing a dialogue with other artists and the space of gallery. And it is a delight to be showing along side some amazing artists. @verdant.city @adelecjordan@mishkahenner and @rebeccachesneyartist @galleryoldham A Minute to Midnight December 7 - March 1, 2025 So how does moss relate to climate change? Here are some interesting facts I put together for @sparkartistsnetwork and the forthcoming panel discussion: Moss is under threat: According to the 2023 IUCN Red List of the of moss in Britain , 19% are
Events / News
Forthcoming projects, talks, exhibitions, and workshops.
States of being
Biokinetic Mantra for the Evocation of the Animistic Matrix
live performance with Maya chowdhry and Chris Gladwin. "This 30min live electronic music performance will feature organic components (mushrooms, moss, terrariums, water) being brought into contact with the ecstatic technology of dance music."I have recently returned to performing live and reawakened a part of my brain that had been dormant for a while. I'd forgotten how much I absolutely love the focus and intensity. The excitement of not knowing what's going to happen, or indeed sometimes wondering what is happening when something completely new emerges. Working with new collaborators has pushed me to explore new methods, leading to a number of fresh works in progress. Last month, I performed with Chris Gladwin and Maya Chowdhryat DVRK MASS II | Sonic Transformations: Ecosystems (organised by
Electronic Music Ensemble at Chorlton Arts FestivalElectronic Music Ensemble at
I performed as part of a line up from SODAs electronic music ensemble (which comprises of students, alumni and staff) at Chorlton Arts Festival, in Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church. I performed again alongside Maya Chowdhry continuing the ‘Biokinetic Mantra for the Evocation of the Animistic Matrix’ project - bringing together bioacoustics filed recording live electroaccoustics, and techno. This involved Darkling beetle larvae and rehydrating moss on hydrophones… Image: Neil Spencer Bruce SODAs electronic music ensemble 5691
Morecambe Bay walk
Ecopedagogies symposium
https://ecopedagogies.cargo.site/ Ecopedagogies Symposium 03 JULY 2024 - 11am-6pmHow can the integration of ecological interdisciplinary teaching methods in the arts and humanities stimulate creative and critical thinking about environmental relationships, rights, and responsibilities in the arts and humanities?Venue 1: The Firs Botanical Research Centre, UoM Panel 1: Ecopedagogies and the senses Chair: Clara Dawson Henry McPherson (UoM): ‘Ecological Improvisation’ Ghada Solimon (UoM): ‘Enhancing learning objectives through creative methods and hands-on activities: a case study of screen-printing using natural dyes workshops’ Ryan Woods and Raichael Lock (UoM): ‘Trees, ears and the space between: exploring pedagogies of reciprocity with primary school children in Manchester’ Moss walk to Manchester Museum, collecting mosses (led by Antony Hall, MMU/Spark Artists’ Network) Venue 2: Manchester Museum Panel 2:
SPARK#9 Moss Walk
A couple weeks ago I took people on an urban moss walk for Spark#9 a monthly meeting organised by @sparkartistsnetwork @castlefieldgall . It was a short walk (only half of what I planned) mostly staring at damp walls under bridges. This particular bridge is host to an unusual (in an urban context) liverwort called Metzgeria furcate clinging onto existence in this cave like environment. Under another bridge just down the road, a more common but impressive Great Scented Liverwort - Conocephalum conicum grows in ring like formations over the walls (Liverworts are bryophytes like moss). We rounded up the walk at the recently reopened @mcrmuseum where we talked and made terrariums. It was heartening to have such a good turn out –
Glint- Instagram residencey
DYCP – Funding 2022-23
I am delighted to announce I was awarded a DYCP grant from Arts Council England to develop my creative practice, enrich networks and also undertake training. I plan to meet mentors and fellow artists for a series of creative collaborations and conversations. Here are some highlights from the project: Highlights will be posted on this page while a series of posts are listed on the following tag: https://antonyhall.net/blog/tag/ace-dycp/ View this post on Instagram Moss Walk for SPARK artists Network A post shared by Antony Hall (@tonazoid) Now is the Time of Moss 2022 - A series of 10 terrariums created from found materials
Moss batteries and art bike convoys (Newsletter Sept 2022)
Hi - I have a few things coming up that I am excited to share (and since I don't do newsletters often, I added a paragraph to cover the last 4 years). I also got some ACE DYCP funding which will keep my research on ecology and perception going into 2023! This summer, I have been busy with Field Station at Art bomb and exploring the Peak District National Park boundary as part of the GUIDline project with Glassball studios. This week I am showing at the British Science Festival Leicester. Next week I am exhibiting with the para lab group (showcasing collaborations between artists and scientists) and running a moss and micro-terrarium workshop as part of Unintended consequences at Quarry Bank Mill. Follow hyperlinks or scroll down for dates
Mirror gaze experiment at British Science Festival 14th Sept.
Documentation from the Mirro Gazing workshop as part of the British Science Festival 14th Sept. The workshop was broken into 20min slots over the day and took place inside a black-out tent on the grounds of De Montfort University outside the gallery. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dr. Antony Hall (@tonazoid) https://britishsciencefestival.org/event/seeing-is-believing/ Book Tickets here https://britishscienceassociation-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173626542
Manchester Vision Network 2022 Research Showcase
It was fascinating to run a workshop on the strange face illusion during the Manchester Vision Network 2022 Research Showcase with many scientists from a range of different fields... NEXT UP: British Science week Sept 14th 2022 "..the fifth staging of this annual event provides a multidisciplinary forum for clinicians (including ophthalmologists, optometrists, orthoptists and specialist nurses), researchers and technology developers interested in ophthalmic and vision science. Our main aim is to stimulate individuals from different fields to exchange ideas and potentially establish fruitful collaborations... More info... Mirrors ready for the workshop Mirror Gaze Experiment - Experience in progress...
GUIDEline Micro-Commission
Exploring the nature and origins of the first National Park and its boundary. I have been commissioned as part of the GUIDEline project by Glassball Studio. Over the summer Alison Lloyd and I will be working alongside Glassball, continuing a conversation that started back in 2021, bringing our practices to the boundary of the Peak District National Park, using the Longdendale Activity Centre as a base from which to explore. Here are some outcomes, ideas and works in progress so far... Walk with Tim Cambel-Green View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dr. Antony Hall (@tonazoid) Walking with Tim - exploring these
Field Station at ARTBOMB 22
Joana Chicau - Chris Dobrowolski - Antony Hall - Jola Kudela - Rob La Frenais - Loré Lixenberg - Dave Lynch - Matthew Rosier - Sidney Sparks - Filipos Tsitsopoulos - Miranda Whall Inari - Linda Cassels We are in a Climate Emergency and our festival will help you consider what you can do to help. ArtBomb 22 is Doncaster's experimental arts festival and designed to help provoke debate across current environmental and ecological thinking...by commissioning world-class art to spill onto the streets of Doncaster with a programme of performance, film, music, talks and workshops across multiple sites - including the architectural jewel in the crown - Doncaster's Unitarian. View this post on
24 hour Bioblitz, Highfield Country Park
Sunday 12th June 2022Highfield Country ParkDrop-in events between 10 - 10.30 pm. We need your help! A BioBlitz is an intensive collaborative race against the clock to document as many different living things in a defined area within 24 hours [from huge trees to microorganisms]. Join artists and scientists and other local nature enthusiasts at the Bee Sanctuary, Highfield Country Park. Learn about nature recording identifying plants and animals, and help contribute to scientific research. Bring your phone to take photos, download the iNaturalist app and make an account. Everything you record on the 12th of June in Highfield park will count towards our Bioblitz event database. Or just come along and explore Highfield and enjoy nature. 10 am to 4 pm:
Biomaterials and future cities
Manchester Art Gallery Easter workshops with Antony Hall and Aled Roberts 6-16/04/22 This was a series of 7 workshops at Manchester Art Gallery as part of the Field Station project. Aled Roberts is a material scientist developing bio-materials made from non-toxic waste products as alternatives to cement that can be used to capture carbon(or even as a building material on mars). Cement and concrete account for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. For comparison, the aviation industry accounts for 2.5%. In the workshop, we created and tested new bio-composite materials. Some super-strong materials were invented alongside many explosive failures. This was a fantastic workshop which engaged families, children and adults equally. Many great conversations were had in relation to climate change
BIOBLITZ – Platt Hall
Platt Hall and Garden Open Day Saturday 2nd April Field Station set up outside the wonderful Platt Hall as part of their open day. I invited people to take part in an intensive BIOBLITZ. That is, documenting all living things in the area, from trees to moss and microorganisms. We placed a series of quadrants [square metres] to see where the most biodiverse sites are around the building]. I shared techniques for hunting and documenting creatures and provided ID resources; microscopes and macro-lenses to get close-up views of what we found. All the results were logged throughout the day on iNaturalist. See https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/field-station-bioblitz-at-platt-hall Images from the BioBitz at Platt Hall and some wildlife recording prep at Debdale park a few
Experience in Action
Field Station
Perception Group exhibit Para-lab Report 2021
para-lab Perception Group: Antony Hall and Ellen Poliakoff.The perception group explore the creative possibilities of re-creating experimental psychology within the context of an expanded [collaborative and interdisciplinary] art practice. The group work with aspects of sensory deprivation and multisensory illusion ( the clay hand illusion, ganzfeld and strange face illusion) which combine touch sound and visual elements. Artefacts include outcomes from the 'Experiments in art and perceptual illusion project' a PhD project by Antony Hall based on collaborative work with experimental psychologist Ellen Poliakoff. The exhibit consisted of workshop editions resources, instructions, diagrams and a collaborative research paper co-authored by Hall and Poliakoff [More information on para-lab report 2021 here...].
Unfeasible object workshop at Manchester Science Park
Thu, 23 September 202110:00 – 14:00Location: Manchester Science Park, Bright Building, Pencroft Way, Manchester, M15 6GZV During this workshop, you will be guided through several activities and perceptual illusions to focus the senses before building objects for the ‘Clay Hand Experiment’ and the ‘Unfeasible Object’ experiment. The CHI is based on the Rubber hand illusion; only in the CHI and Unfeasible object experiments, participants build their own hand and other non-hand like objects rather than using a replica rubber hand. Using clay, it is possible to distort and manipulate the clay beyond the form of a hand and create different degrees of ‘unfeasible objects’ and attempt to embody these as part of our own body image. The workshop explores the possibility
para-lab report
para-lab invite you to join us as we come together to display and discuss a series of ongoing collaborations between artists and scientists. The report will be presented through artefacts accumulated from the process of collaboration, as well as workshops and a mini-symposium (free) registration on Eventbrite) to contextualise the work. The weekend acts as a marker along the path of long-term, open-ended collaborations and a platform for the participants and the public to get together in real life after so long operating only online. Open to the public: Rogue Project Space, Thursday 23rd September, 6 - 8Saturday 25th September, 11- 5, Sunday 26th September, 12 - 4.
Proximity at Abingdon Studios
PROXIMITY; An enquiry into the spatial and social elements of practice as research. Anne-Marie Atkinson | Ann Carragher | Antony Hall | Jackie Haynes | Rebecca Howard |Sarah-Joy Ford. 26 Aug – 16 Sept* *Window Gallery visible 24/7 *Upper Floor Project Space open Fridays and Saturdays 11-4pm or by appointmentProximity is a collective of 6 artists interested in the spatial and social elements of practice-as-research (est. May 2019). We have met online weekly since lockdown began, and have developed our approach of “convivial aesthetics” in the virtual realm. Through these meetups, we have provided professional, creative, and emotional support for one another – spending more time in proximity to one another, digitally in each other’s homes. Together we have taken part in several residencies, where our proximity
PhD exhibition Launch
The Workshop as Art: Insight Into the Subjective Experience of Perceptual Illusion Through an Expanded Art Practice Exhibition of works submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy This virtual exhibition presents a new body of work exploring perceptual illusion and the workshop as a form of art. The workshops explore the effects of simulating illusory experience through combinations of sound, light and touch, as well as sensory deprivation. The workshops highlight the extreme subjectivity of everyday experience and raise some more unusual questions: What is it like to be invisible? What is it like to be outside of our bodies? Or to embody an and entirely unfeasible object? And what is the role of imagination
On Decomposition and Interspecies Collaboration (Work-In-Progress) Various-Authors
A Live feed (the sound of woodlice eating and communicating) as the keynote presentation for the 'Hopsitality' symposium/conference 2021. This text talks about how this came about, and outline the presentation and details of the 'paper' that was produced. As part of 'Hospitality' a residency project with Proximity hosted by the UoC Fine Art writing group, a conference was organised as a final outcome and reflection on the project. The idea was that we would speak about our various practices and explore cross overs concerning the theme of Hospitality. Unfortunately, as the deadline drew near, we found ourselves having to find a keynote speaker at the last minute. At the time, I had been working on some sound recording experiments, listening
Gallery Oldham residency: Bryophytes Project
I will be doing a 3-month residency [funded by the NWCDTP (North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership) at Gallery Oldham (May to July 2021). I will be working in response to plant specimens in the natural history collection, specifically Moss (or even more specifically 'bryophytes' and other plants without roots). Since access to the gallery will be limited for some time, I will be working at distance (walking and cycling) revisiting historical sites of collection and re-collecting specimens. I will be talking with local experts, volunteers, environmental scientists, and other natural history enthusiasts, vital component parts of the museums as an ongoing collection process. Specimen envelope: cinclidioidesBryophyte Book Images of objects from the Gallery Oldham Natural History collection, Thanks to Patricia
Plinth with unseeable object
I was honoured to be invited to contribute to WEDDING RITUAL an amazing curatorial project by Wes White / Wes Viola. I wrote about something Old [Plinth with unseeable object] Did something new [See the obscurist edition], proposed something borrowed and invented something blue [sort of]. "...Antony Hall is an extraordinary artist, experimentalist and thinker. His work frequently plays with our perception of reality, sometimes presenting as everlasting magic tricks (for example, his Perpetual Coffee Vortex and Continual Slow Drip). Hall is also one part of Owl Project, the sound-art collective responsible for the iLog, at least one incarnation of which Bjork is rumoured to have added to her collection of instruments. The ENKi project explored the limits of human interaction with electric fish. I was fortunate to study at Strode College with Tony (on the course now led by Duncan Cameron, then our sculpture tutor), and have followed his artistic
The Clay Hand Illusion and the Embodiment of Unfeasible Objects
"In an artistic exploration, clay hands and non-hand-like, unfeasible clay objects were created by the participant and used to perform an alternative version of the rubber hand illusion. Most participants felt ownership even over these unfeasible objects, raising questions about the embodied experience of objects that we make." https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0301006620948502
Drawing for problem-solving
Sciart Podcast
I was interviewed by RAH! for their Sciart podcast series. We ended up talking about some of my old works about my interest in amateur science and drawing and a little about my latest research for the PhD [Rubber and clay hands] RAH! Podcast at Manchester Met · Science and Art: Illustrating Scientific Ideas