MIKE SEBASTIAN + SARAH LOUISE DAVIES

We Played.

Over two days, we structured an improvisation exploring the idea of ‘a call to play’.

We built a live sonic playground, using only the things around us, responding to the place of Hull and navigating some new software that enabled us to focus on being artists, live and improvising.

We explored the question “what is play?”.

W made bean burgers for our neighbours and made a music video. I think.

Rules of play :

Tech Play: ALK 2

Play Time: 72 hours.

Play Spaces: A kitchen on Humber Street, Industrial Estate in Hull, a scrap Yard, an old warehouse.

Here’s what happened.

I invited Mike up to Hull from London to play for a few days.

To see what we could make and create with what we had immediately around us. An invitation to learn, share, make, create, grow and exchange.

I saw Mike busking at Waterloo train station with his loop pedal and pink guitar. He was the most present person in that place. He exuded a joy that fuelled his sound and South African groove. He was completely in the zone - like a child. It made me want to dance. That’s powerful and rare. I wanted to see what we could create. Together.

So I made some space and invited him to be him.

The Brief.

*at the start.

This is the first in a series of artistic collaborations and short films that capture the art, nature and reality of play.

Across music and other forms, in different neighbourhoods, cultures and practices. Working with artists and friends. Examining, growing in, re-claiming and capturing what is means to PLAY in our world.

Video objective: To explore the nature of play through musical experimentation. To use the backdrops of industrial Hull as a playground and inspiration. To create an improvised piece of music that captures the spirit of the city whilst championing the bravery of the artists within it.

We sampled the sounds we found that captured the city to use, mix and make music electronically.

We agreed that stylistically the piece should non-verbally communicate our childlike (artistic) need to play with each other. The joy, freedom and connection that comes from that, but also the difficulty.

New Discoveries.

*In play, the best outcomes are always the unexpected ones.

Mike’s Story + Experience.

“Not a city one would expect to find particularly inspiring. After seeing me play at Waterloo a couple months ago, Sarah Davies who runs Play Club and Sofar Hull invited me up to the city for an artist residency. What I found was a pre-Berlin: sprawling, disheveled, industrial buildings and shipyards, with the seedlings of artistic growth and regeneration, and so much space. The goal was to explore play and improvisation, using the influence of the city to create something.

In an incredibly short space of time we put together a piece of music that was to be performed, filmed and improvised live.

Location scouting, we snuck into old warehouses, found a burnt out brothel and a pink limousine.

We threw rocks at skips and sampled the sounds into a drum kit which became the basis for our piece.

Then over the next two days, we structured our improv, by exploring the idea of ‘a call to play’.

We discussed the necessity for play in society of all ages and looked at how serious industrial spaces can be repurposed into playgrounds of varying forms.

As you can imagine, all of this was totally my vibe.

On shoot day I arrived to find a sound and light company with stacks of flight cases, waiting to load in to the warehouse location across the street.

All to capture our experiment.

Artistically collaborating in this way meant exploring my own process in a way I hadn’t before.

Trying to find the root of what makes strangers connect to the music on the street, and share that in words.

We came to the realisation that what seems to make it work is stripping away any sort of performance, and purely sharing the joy of discovery of music.

This then became our core objective.

After a few fire alarms and many, many takes, we settled on the take that was by no means the best technically, but the most urgent and exciting.

In London, space is at a premium, and play rarely comes without financial objective.

I find that the best work arises outside these restrictions.

In Hull I found space, time and the enthusiasm of others to create work.

Plus the chips and curry sauce was on point.”

To play is having your eyes wide open, but having faith in the unseen.

To play is having a narrative, but recklessly abandoning your script.

To play is creative, but requires you to stop performing.

To play is takes courage, but needs vulnerability.

Play invites you to “be in your groove”, not caring what that looks like to the world.

And games always work best played with people.

Right?

PlayClub

Sarah Louise Davies

Bastian Creations