Artists

Who’s involved at Llangollen? These people, that’s who:

Mark Newgarden
(USA) – Lost and Found

Performers, musical and foley artists perform brand new sound-tracks to selections from cult US comic artist Mark Newgarden’s collection of rare and classic cartoons. Performances by Traw, Suzanne Andrade, Kevin Reid, Brian Dewan, John Lawrence and the Berberian Sound Studio.

Brian Dewan
(USA) – i-Strip

Using a 50s projector and hand painted rolls of film, Dewan delivers illustrated performances of incomparable texts. Quirky and slightly surreal, i-Strip is curiously funny, and very entertaining.

A favourite of BBC tastemaker John Peel, Dewan is an American original.

“…a multi-talented modern-day Renaissance man. With a veritable cornucopia of wit, wisdom, talent, and general likability..” – BBC, H2G2

Bedwyr Williams
(Wales) – A Chat About Quinsey

Wales’ finest visual artist and acerbically witty performer, will present A Chat About Quinsey – containing strobe lighting effects.

Bedwyr recently represented Wales at the 2005 Venice Biennale and his recent work ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’ was purchased for the Saatchi collection.

“Hillariousy deadpan and satisfying.” – Art Review

Steven Brower
(USA) – Memorial Service For Conrad Carpenter, Handyman, Astronaut

Following the recent sad demise of Brower’s alter-ego, Conrad Carpenter, you are invited to the underemployed astronaut’s funeral service including a live video relay from an ascending helium space balloon.

“Of all the contemporary work that extends neo-conceptual art into the realm of architecture… Steven Brower’s may well be the cutest.” – Artforum

John Hegley
(England)

Guerilla wordsmith, quirky poet, musical performer and Radio 4 regular, John will be performing his fantastically entertaining, alternative stand up poetry.

“One of the funniest men alive” – New Statesman

“Comedy’s poet laureate” – Independent

Suzanne Andrade
(England)

Andrade recounts surreal tales full of dark humour with equally surreal animation projections reminiscent of silent-film. Its all supremely precise, highly entertaining and completely engrossing.

“It is rare to see poetry performed alongside strippers and cabaret acts. Suzanne Andrade, however, is a peculiar poet… whether she’s writing about little girl brownies who turn into demonic goat-men led by Tony Hart, or a Scottish family who deep-fry everything.” – Independent on Sunday

“…racked up five awards in a succession of [Edinburgh] Festival triumphs this week.” – The Scotsman ****

“You can’t fail to be seduced.” – metro ****

“Now this is what Edinburgh should be all about.” – The Guardian ****

Victor Mount
(England)

Victor Mount combines the personas of a worldly-wise raconteur with that of an ever so slightly neurotic host.

Infected with the melancholia of Philip Larkin and the humour of Sir John Betjeman, Mount will demonstrate his performance and musical skills, or lack of them, with guitar songs and poems about art.

Traw
(Wales)

Welsh sound artists Richard Llewellyn, Owen Martell and Simon Proffitt process field recordings of non-musical objects and environments. They recently used members of the public’s personal objects for a live improvisation including carrots and pints of beer to false teeth, umbrellas and chopsticks.

Rachel Pantechnicon
(England)

Rachel Pantechnicon appears to be the love child that Eddie Izzard and Pam Ayres never told us about.

Award-winning Rachel is a performance poetess extraordinaire; a highly-original and funny cat fixated poetry diva. Oh, and not forgetting the elve-shelves of course!

“I was weeing myself” – Sue Perkins,The Old Vic

Nathan Penlington
(Wales/England)

Welshscouse whitetrash Nathan Penlington spent his early teens as a temporary Bingo caller and boy magician in a Welsh seaside town.

His unique form of literary cabaret fuses comedy, storytelling, audience participation and award winning magic – intelligent, accessible and entertaining.

“Sensation” – The Guardian

“England’s brightest stand-up poet” – NewYorkCool.com

Brian Nylon
(Wales)

Virtually unknown in his native Doncaster and yet the only living person ever to appear on a Romanian postage stamp, house DJ Brian Nylon is a particularly unfunny riddle enigmatically wrapped in a mysterious velvet suit.

After studying German Popular Song at the Dusseldorf Technical Institute, Brian returned to the UK where he co-hosted the now legendary Disques Vogue weekly mobile dance party, as famous for its prize raffle and luxury soft furnishings as for its delicious and intoxicating mixture of the finest bossa nova, hammond organ funk and Tijuana Brass style Beatles covers. His favourite hairpiece is the ‘Ray Conniff’.

In the accompanying picture here, you can see Brian as he struggles to pick some troublesome raspberry seeds from his back teeth.

“I danced until I fell over” - Mrs. J, Aberdare

Marc Rees
(Wales) – The Dancing Marquis Diaries (Splinter performance): A study in decadence: part I

One of Wales’s leading dance artists known for often flamboyant, humorous and often extreme performances. Suitably attired in outlandish fashion, Rees pays homage to the 5th Marquis of Anglesey in an intimate and revealing portrait via a promenade of posing.

“Marc Rees is one of the most interesting and talented creative artists working in the UK today” – Theatre in Wales

Rhian Edwards
(Wales)

Mae Award-winning poet, musician and songwriter Rhian Edwards. has coined her own unique brand of language in a rhythmic and lyrical style, establishing her as one of the most compelling and exceptional voices on the poetry scene.

“Astounding Welsh performance poet with performances that get you in the emotional gut.” – The Verb – Radio 3

John Lawrence
(Wales)

Welsh musician and founding member of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Lawrence is now a solo artist of formidable repute with recent releases as Infinity Chimps.

Kevin Reid & Jason Nelson
(Scotland) – Life in Fife life skills

Dreaming of living in an east Scotland ex-mining village? Make that dream come true!

Cultural envoys from Fife, Kevin Reid and Jason Nelson offer a workshop teaching ‘Life in Fife’ life skills. Gain all the confidence required for in-depth engagement with people from Fife.

Simon Munnery
(England)

English comedy writer and experimental stand-up comedian, Simon Munnery (aka Alan Parker: Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium), pierced the mainstream with his BBC Radio 1 show and his BBC2 television series Attention Scum!

He often wears a hat crafted from a kettle.

“One of the most original and talented comics in the country.” – The Observer

“A sharply intelligent, almost satirical act… a brilliant comic.” – The Daily Telegraph

The Berberian Sound Studio Group
The Bohman Brothers (England), Peter Strickland (Hungary), Richard Thomas (Wales)

Experienced feature-film foley artists and eschewing all things digital, The Berberian Sound Studio Group take their vegetables, shoe brushes, machetes and all manner of antiquated flotsam and jetsam to bring one of the Mark Newgarden’s found films to life.

“…in the traditions of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the Bohman Brothers kitchen-sink realism laughs at the grand claims of lofty art. They will show you fear in a sponge from a drainer.” - Ben Watson, The Wire Magazine

“The new single by the Bohman Brothers…is one of the best sound poetry jukebox records since Henri Chopin stopped cutting them.” - Byron Coley, The Wire Magazine