Bill Drummond’s characteristically bizarre choral project The 17 fetches up in Derby’s Market Place this Friday (August 22) at 6.30pm.
The performance piece was commissioned by QUAD, Derby’s new centre for art and film, and may take a bit of explanation. Over the summer, Drummond recruited 100 choirs of 17 members each from the local community, then recorded each group singing one note for five minutes.
He’s now mixed these together to create ‘The17: Slice Through Derby’, and will play the recording for the first and last time in the Market Place. In typical Drummond fashion, the recording will then be deleted, and no private recording of the playback will be permitted. Drummond has invited all the 1,700 singers to be present at this auspicious event.
QUAD will host an exhibition of photographs of the choirs from September 26. Got that?
Bill Drummond is interviewed in this month’s issue of Uncut, on sale now.
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