Seminar at Margate Museum: 2-5pm
Performance at Margate Museum: 6-7.30pm

‘The problem with things is that they are dumb. They are not eloquent, as some thinkers in art museums claim. They are dumb. And if by some ventriloquism they seem to speak, they lie.’ Crew & Sims, ’Locating Authenticity’ (1991:159)

What happens if we consider museum collections in terms of resonance, harmonics and voice? All voices – human, animal, machine – are generated by assemblages, whether of flesh and sinew or more unusual components. All spaces resonate with particular harmonics. This event will combine elements from museum studies, assemblage theory and overtone singing to discuss objects and collections. While, as Crew & Sims argue, things may not speak, we will investigate the possibility that things may sing.

The day will be broken up into two discreet events.
The seminar will run from 2-5pm and the performance 6-7.30pm. Both events will take place at Margate Museum who have kindly agreed to host us.

Both events are free for all to attend, and there is no obligation for you to attend both parts.

Information about the artist:
Clair Le Couteur (*1982, UK) is a non-binary trans research artist and singer, currently completing their practice-based PhD – ‘The Fictive Museum’ – at the Royal College of Art, London. Recent projects include: Transportation Blues (2016), a live-looped folk song cycle at the Horse Hospital, London; Roots Between the Tides (2016), an a network installation of 144 images on long-term loan to Warrington Museum; essays for Gender Forum, Shades of Noir, and the Oxford Artistic Research platform; and Reading Trans (2017-18), a series of workshops on trans theory for postgraduate Fine Art courses including Goldsmiths and Open School East.