Music and art at opening of new exhibition

Tuesday, 7 November 2023 14:30

By David Murphy

Rooms to Live, the first UK exhibition by collaborative artists Derek Tyman and Andy Webster, opens on Saturday (11 Nov) at Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre.

It comprises two interrelated sculptural installations; Trout House Replica and So the Red Rose. Trout House Replica recreates the interior of the Los Angeles house where Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band wrote and rehearsed their seminal 1969 album Trout Mask Replica. So the Red Rose features a large, boat-like structure reinventing Vanda Chan's fictitious marooned houseboat 'Arcadia'.

Combining fact and fiction, while referencing 1960s counterculture and 1980s environmentalism, Rooms to Live investigates the alliances between music and art as vehicles for the imagination.

Curated by Kat Au, the 14-week exhibition features a programme of performances, workshops, screenings and artist residencies. Contributing artists include Helen Reddington, Gina Birch, Whitelands, Trash Kit, Vanessa Govinden, Chardine Taylor-Stone, Malcolm Garrett, Bryan Biggs and many more.

Archival material relating to Beefheart's first exhibition of paintings at Liverpool's Bluecoat in 1972 and a further celebration there in 2017 will be included alongside artwork by inclusive arts project Blue Room, made in response to Beefheart's art and music.

Local young bands will participate in residencies throughout the exhibition, with opportunities to rehearse and record at The Met studio. The Emerging Showcase event will provide a platform for young musicians from the area.

Details of the 11 November launch:

* 10.30am - Bryan Biggs’ Arcadians We Are DJ set

* 1.30pm - live performances including poetry by Gillian Wylde; an acoustic set from Andy Abbott; and, as a sequel to Alan Dunn’s ‘Beefheart on the Beach’, new musical group Merseytrout play in the Trout House Replica

* 3pm - panel discussion, Making Space for Music, with Andy Abbott, Bryan Biggs, Alan Dunn, Malcolm Garrett and Andy Webster.