Review:
Gary Fisher- Joined Apart (digital album)
2015
The pace of this album punctuated by the 10 individual sound pieces make for a slow and considered listening experience. Calls of something about to happen or having just happened echo in and out- joining up disparate beginnings and ends. There is expectation, loss, hope- sometimes trundling, sometimes arriving, sometimes a long ending.
Gary Fisher is an artist working with sound, objects, tape and performance as part of a practice that is an ongoing improvisation- a constant process of accumulating, appropriating, sounding and shedding objects and DIY instruments. His work is currently more minimal than it has been at times in the past- with what seems to be explorations into restriction- as both an academic task and because of situations that change within his life.
In 2014 he moved from home town Salford to London for his MA in Sound Art at London Communication College where he studied under such lecturers as David Toot (experimental musician, author, and professor and chair of audio culture and improvisation) and carried out a number of projects including performing as part of Sculpture/ Allan Kaprow’s YARD at The Hepworth Gallery, an ensemble performance with Christian Marclay and Thurston Moore at White Cube and his MA show Constantly Evolving but Never Ending curated by Irene Revell (Electra Productions). Love, life and art then took him to Italy where he lived briefly and also took part of a project titled Flea Market with Gilda Manfring at Venice Biennial by Rob Pruitt where Gary extended his explorations into objects and their prescribed function vs imagined functioned as musical instruments.
On his return to Manchester for his Noise Above Noise residency with us here at The Penthouse in Manchester he carried on his investigations into minimal set ups and uses of found objects with some simple yet effective improvisations with paper, a found metal cabinet, radio and self publishing. We curated the performance event to also present new performance works by Matt Dalby (as Tear Fet) – a long time collaborator- and also Helmut Lemke his tutor who introduced him to sound art at Salford University.
And then things seemed to come to a beginning or an end. A relationship ended. An unexpected return home. Back to the start or not at all?
We all go through transitional periods, things change. What this work demonstrates is what happens if an artist can create through these times- pulling together a variety of events, experiences and feelings over a certain section of life.
The album communicates a long period of time- a document of a series of changes- a document of a number of places. More obvious sound sources such as trains literally makes it feel like you are being moved toward the horizon slowly- with the tension bolstered in parts by chaotic crashing cymbal and dramatic delayed electronics as with track 3 ‘Both Channels’. Ambient sounds linger on penetrated by sharp short interferences, silent pauses, effected electronics, distortion, and tinkered with metal and objects as with track 5 'Broken Square’. And it all swells into one interesting and very worth while journey- Joined Apart.
You can buy Gary Fisher’s new album Joined Apart via bandcamp for only £4 as a digital download.
Proceeds go towards a different physical release on vinyl later this year, so you can buy an artwork and also help fund a future one for a small amount of money.
