Experiments In Creative Collaboration: Dovetailing Responses In Ilkley In November

Dovetailing Responses, an exhibition combining film, music and mobile sculpture with visual arts, poetry, dance, live music and an interactive soundscape, will take place at the Manor House in Ilkley from 4th to 7th November.

The exhibition will seek to evolve into several resonating layers of interaction. Encouraged to take an individual path through an immersive forest-like installation by sculptor Juliet Gutch, filmmaker Clare Dearnaley and music-composer Sally Beamish, audience participants will be exposed to a unique experience replete with light, movement, shadows and sound.

The first Dovetailing exhibition took place in June 2021 and responded to how notes are drawn out of silence, beginning with a tree, to the selection of the wood, to the instrument maker, the music and finally to the audience.

The new installation takes the process of audience assimilation a step further, with layers of listening and collaborative response happening all weekend. Coinciding with the UN Climate Change conference, COP26, it aims to explore how interactions made with care may give hope to a redefinition of our balance with nature.

There will be a guided workshop with Ilkley Literature Festival Poet in Residence Ian Duhig, who will also be writing a series of responsive poems; reactive work led by Art School Ilkley; and an opportunity for the participant to create their own movement-sensitive audio track using a Smartphone app and sound design from the exhibition.

That it all begins with wood is a resonant idea, given our deep affection for ancient trees. If we love what grows silently in our midst, how could we not love what is made from it? Professor Tom Shakespeare.


Exhibition timetable:

Thursday November 4th

6 - 8pm opening event, all welcome
Premiere of A tree remembered by Keely Hodgson, performed with Sophie Wallace and Karen Vaughan, and the launch of Smartphone app by Simon East.

Friday November 5th

Installation & gallery of responsive work open 10 - 6pm
with interactive Smartphone app.

Saturday November 6th

Installation & gallery of responsive work open 10 - 6pm
with interactive Smartphone app as well as music improvisation by Kerry McMullen.
NB: Exhibition closed for workshop 11 - 12
3.30pm Poetry reading hosted by Ian Duhig.

Sunday November 7th

Installation & gallery of responsive work open 10 - 4pm
with interactive Smartphone app
10.30 - 12.30pm dance improvisation by Mati Torres
2 - 4pm performance of A tree remembered.

The installation & activities will take place on the ground floor (accessible), visual arts responses in Western Gallery upstairs (no disabled access).


Free Entry

No booking necessary; numbers may be limited if it gets busy.

Ilkley Manor House, Castle Yard LS29 9DT


Donations to
Climate Action Ilkley


www.dovetailing.co.uk