March 24, 2012
Wilderness
This year marks our first at Wilderness! Come find us in the Natures tent where we’ll be showcasing two absolutely corking new events…
Quantum Disco
Dance with the dynamics of quantum mechanics and explore the strange world of particle physics in an interactive event that lets you tango with the fundamental forces of the universe. David Glowacki, a quantum chemist from the University of Bristol and founder of Dance Spectroscopy, has created a virtual world that allows you to step into the realm of molecular motions. Observe, play, dance, watch, and listen as sensors transform movements into real-time ripples, waves, and vortices, generating otherworldly soundscapes and visualizations in tune with the phenomena of particle physics. Compare solos to duets and explore the strange forces that connect all of us – down to the tiniest particle.
Thursday: 10pm
Photo Credit: Alex Flowers
Hacked Human Orchestra
Join us as we blend soft fabric electronics with creative technologists to transform your threads into wearable musical instruments. Come hack your outfit: learn to stitch synths into shirts, turn trousers into trumpets and redesign dresses into drums and help create the world’s first mobile electronic human orchestra. In the final act, we will assemble en masse for an impromptu orchestral performance unlike any other, led by composer Florian Lunaire who will score our singular soundtrack as we wind our way throughout the festival. Produced in collaboration with tech artists MzTEK and sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Sunday: 11am
Join us as we become entangled with Spiritualized, Wilco, The Midnight Masked Ball with the Old Vic Tunnels, spas, banquets, lakes and debates at one of Britain’s newest, loveliest festivals – a bit like the sophisticated, chilled-out big sister of the Secret Garden Party.
January 26, 2012
Shambala
This summer sees our first foray to one of England’s loveliest festivals, Shambala!
Join us August 23-27 on the August Bank Holiday Weekend at a stunning secret location in the heart of the Northamptonshire countryside as we listen to the stars, hack an orchestra and take the hunt for the Higgs to new terrain.
Particle Safari Hunt
Track down the fundamental matter of the universe with Guerilla Science and speculative artist Patrick Stevenson-Keating as we take you on a trip around the festival site in search of our quarry: quarks, muons, gluons, and photons. Maybe we’ll even spot the elusive Higgs boson – we could only be so lucky.
Hacked Human Orchestra
Join us as we blend soft fabric electronics with creative technologists to transform your threads into wearable musical instruments. Let us hack your outfit: learn to stitch synths into shirts, turn trousers into trumpets and redesign dresses into drums and help create the world’s first mobile electronic human orchestra. In the final act, we will assemble en masse for an impromptu orchestral performance unlike any other, led by composer Florian Lunaire. Produced in collaboration with tech artists MzTEK, who will be leading our initial workshop in London.
Anatomical Life Drawing
Go head to toe and inside out in a life drawing class unlike any other. Expert anatomical artists will reveal the reveal the bones, veins and viscera of our models, and then lead us through the techniques of capturing the human form on paper. Biologists will be on hand to explain the structure and function of the bits and pieces of the amazing construction that is the human body.
Sounds of the Stars
What does the sky sound like? Cosmologists will take us on an audio tour of the universe – space isn’t as silent as you might think. Hear the bassy reverberations of the surface of our Sun, the eerie shrieks of Jupiter, and feverish radio pulses from the cores of dead stars.
Cockroach Racing
Or maybe a spot of gambling is what you fancy. Trust us: It’s far more vile than it sounds.
September 10, 2011
Bestival: Sunday
11:00 Where are all the Cyborgs? Sarah Sydney
If sci-fi’s anything to go by, bionic people should have been walking among us years ago. Prosthetics expert Sarah goes in search of our transhuman future, by way of Oscar Pistorius, Captain Hook and the latest robotic hands.
12:00 Galactic Gourmet: Rachel Edwards-Stuart & Jessica Chambers
Experimental epicures Rachel and Jessica will take us on a whistlestop tour of the history of space food – eating in orbit is even harder than it sounds. Sample interstellar ice cream, dehydrated steak and zero gravity cake.
13:00 Rocket Science: Simon Foster
Witness rocket-man Simon go ballistic as he cooks up an explosive mixture of Newtonian physics, Nazi flying bombs, and Cold War moon missions. Expect loud bangs, ion drives and hopefully some lift-off.
14:00 Synthetic Aesthetics: Daisy Ginsberg & Fernan Federici
Synthetic biology may soon give us the power to redesign life. So what should we make? Join artist/designer Daisy and biologist Fernan to discover a project that invites artists and scientists to explore the coming bio-synthetic age.
15:00 Biochemical Assault Course: Mike Hughson & Chris Grant
Become the drugs as they are made and fight for survival through the obstacle course filtration process: first one to make it to a blister pack wins. Come purify, centrifuge and vacuum-pack yourself into a pharmacological treat.
AND OUT AND ABOUT ALL WEEKEND
11:00-17:00 Microbial Menagerie: Microbiologist Zookeepers
Featuring the flora and fauna of the human body. Spot the bum!
11:00-17:00 Creepy Cornucopia: Tim Maynard
Scorpions. Snakes. Tarantulas. Maggots. Oh yes.
16:00 Cockroach Racing
Winner takes all.
May 17, 2011
Smelly Tweeting
How long can you last without washing? Could you endure 40 days? What if there were a sweet prize at the end – say, a ticket to the Secret Garden Party?
We cordially invite all with a partiality for putridity to join us as we investigate what it means to be dirty and attempt to last 40 nights without a wash.
How could the shunning of soap change the way you live your life, how you feel about yourself, or what others think of you? And does being stinky affect your sex appeal? Napoleon certainly is famed for having written to Josephine, “Will return to Paris tomorrow evening. Don’t wash.”
We are issuing a call to arms for the defense of dirt in collaboration with Dr Leslie Knapp, an immunogeneticist and expert on the role of smell in human behaviour. With the assistance of Dr Knapp, we will recreate the famed t-shirt experiment alongside the competition to investigate the molecular basis of attraction.
Contestants must report daily on Twitter using the hashtag #smellytweet about their experience of being physically filthy, the reactions of those around them to their odiferous state, how being dirty makes them feel, and their reasons to quit the contest should they choose to drop out.
Discover your own personal capacity for dirtiness and let us know by entering our Smelly Tweeter competition which launches on 21 May. Sign up by 18 May here.
Image credit: Bark
This competition is part of our exploration and celebration of all things filthy as part of the Wellcome Trust’s Dirt season.
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