Links Hall > Robin Deacon, Vinyl Equations
Description
Syd Barrett and Nina Simone. Isaac Hayes and Richard Nixon. These are some of the radically differing voices juxtaposed within Vinyl Equations, a performance that presents a series of vinyl records in unusual combinations to generate the beginnings of an alternative, non-linear, non-genre based history of recorded music, in strictly analogue terms. Accompanied by a single record turntable, artist and writer Robin Deacon will share a collection of stories, lectures and possible dance routines that aim to uncover strange echoes and oblique similarities between the records he has chosen for analysis. From describing a childhood fear of Joy Division, to a contemporary search for an obscure record of Caribbean folk songs featuring the voice of his mother, Vinyl Equations shifts between the realms of direct autobiographical account and fictional speculation in an approach that has come to characterize Robin Deacon’s work.
About the Artist
Robin Deacon (born 1973 Eastbourne, England) is a British artist, writer and filmmaker currently based in the USA. His interdisciplinary practice has spanned a variety of disciplines and themes, including explorations of performer presence and absence, the role of the artist as biographer, the possibility for journalistic approaches to arts practice, and the mapping and ethics of performance re-enactment. He graduated from Cardiff School of Art in 1996, going on to present his performances and videos at conferences and festivals in the UK and internationally in Europe, USA and Asia. His work has been commissioned and programmed by venues such as The ICA, London (1996), The Young Vic, London (2000), CCCB, Barcelona (2006), Tanzquartier Wien, Vienna (2007) and the Centre d’art Scenique Contemporain Lausanne, Switzerland (2009), Tate Britain, London (2014) and the Barbican Centre, London (2015). He has also been artist in residence at Sophiensaele in Berlin (2005), Camden Arts Centre London (2006), Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, New York (2009) and the MacDowell Colony (2018). He has received a variety of awards and fellowships from organizations such as the Delfina Foundation, British Arts Council, Live Art Development Agency and Franklin Furnace Inc. Between 2003 and 2012, he was an Associate Artist of contemporary artists producing organization Artsadmin. From 2004, he was Course Director of the Drama and Performance Studies program at London South Bank University before relocating to the USA in 2011. He is currently Chair and Associate Professor of Performance at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About Links Hall
Links Hall encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Since 1978, Links (a 501(c)3 organization) has incubated performing artists through its residency programs, artist-curated festivals, cabaret and performance series, co-presentations with self-producing artists, low-cost space rentals, direct grants to artists, workshop programs, apprentice producer program, fiscal sponsorship program, and as one of 72 presenting and visual arts partners in the National Performance Network. Links Hall has provided research, development and performance opportunities for nearly 10,000 artists and welcomes an average of 6,000 audience members per year. Our programming provides a fail-safe environment where both artists and audiences can take equal risk.
