About the project:
A limited run vinyl record produced through a series of residencies organised by Static Gallery at Bill Drummond's former prison, the Curfew Tower in Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Curfew Tower album was the first release on the Liverpool based record label PRODUCT Records. PRODUCT1/The Curfew Tower features a range of disciplines (artists, architects, musicians, academics, curators, writers etc) who stayed in the Curfew tower for residencies from 1 day – 3 weeks.
As resident artists we were asked to make a 'field recording' on a Tascam Multi-Track Cassette Recorder which would later be compiled by PRODUCT records with the contributions of other participants, and to produce a sleeve design which would feature on a limited number of the records produced.Further Information:
-Visit Static website-Visit Product Records
-Read Product Records interview by Double Negative
-Visit Product Records on Facebook
-Visit the Curfew Tower website
Listen to the work here:
Context:
Several of our previous projects have engaged critically with the cultural imperialism of English as the dominant global language, a key legacy of the former British Empire and a central component of its contemporary incarnation, the new Empire of globalisation. We have attempted to raise the issue of the loss of cultural diversity in different geographical locations and social contexts as languages across the world are displaced by English which is promoted as the necessary mono-language by organisations such as the British Council, the IMF (international Monetary Fund) and the World Bank.For our audio work produced whilst completing a three week residency at the Curfew Tower in Cushendall, Antrim, Northern Ireland, a location from which the traditional language has largely disappeared through the course of colonial reign, our interest has turned once again to imperialist English. In this case we have attempted to move away from what may be a futile nostalgia for cultural diversity and instead embrace the use of English as a commonality, a shared language that brings with it mutual understanding of and for a multitude of peoples, a tool for autonomously and collectively constructing a counter-Empire.