CHELPA FERRO: ON - OFF POLTERGEIST

About

Curated by the students of the MA Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art

In collaboration with Mezkalito Gallery
Supported by the Monique Beudert Fund

Brazilian sound art collective, Chelpa Ferro, fuse art and music, the traditional and the high-tech, the local and the global. This new commission presents the first UK performance by this dynamic experimental group. For one night at SPACE Courtyard, Chelpa Ferro will bring their innovative sound sampling to London's East End (to be broadcast on Resonance FM on Friday 29 June, 7 - 8 pm). In the accompanying exhibition at Mezkalito Gallery, they have devised a compelling new installation which creates an interplay between objects, sounds, images and the architecture of the space.

Chelpa Ferro make 'sound machines' from everyday materials and objects, blending their cacophonic qualities with conventional musical instruments to produce a unique sonic experience with roots in traditional Brazilian rhythms. This commission combines the distinctive noises produced by found objects scavenged from London homes, with recordings from the streets and beaches of the group's native Rio de Janeiro, to create an intense and original composition. Chelpa Ferro see their perfomances and installations as evolving experiments that develop beyond their authors into machines with a life of their own. Their works are radical sensory experiences that invoke the Tropicalismo movement of 1960s Brazil and the histories of musical avant-gardes.

Chelpa Ferro were created in 1995 by the artists, Jorge Barrão, Luiz Zerbini, and Sergio Mekler. The name is taken from an archaic Brazilian slang term for 'old money'. Chelpa Ferro have exhibited internationally and presented their work at FACT Liverpool in 2006/7, the Venice Biennale in 2005, the Sao Paulo Bienals in 2002 and 2004, and the Havana Biennial in 2003. They were nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards Brazil in 1998.

Arts Council / Royal College of Art / Mezkalito Gallery / SPACE Jungle Drums / Resonance 104.4 FM LMC

With thanks to: Embassy of Brazil, Gagosian Gallery, Victoria Miro Gallery and Anita Zabludowicz.

radio broadcast:
Resonance 104.4 FM : 29 June, 7 - 8pm

for further details: Tel. (CCA dept.) 020 7590 4494