http://thecoast.ca/
Wolf 5-Limit Fifth by Craig Leonard is an investigation of dissonance and its relationship to the formation of the self.
All those who purchase a festival pass will receive a limited edition colour print. The work is also available for download here.
A long time friend and participant of OBEY Convention, Jesse Frank Matthews, will be DJing during our Friday night show with Each Other, Teenanger, TV Freaks and No Bodies. We got in touch with him to get a sense of what his priorities are when it comes to DJing:
What kind of music/musical idea is exciting you these days?
Everyone’s got their doors and window’s open now that it’s spring, so again I am captivated by the stream of music and sounds coming out of every corner. In my recreational time I have been listening to lots of Harry Partch, Huerco S. and Sade.
Will you be manipulating the music you play at the show in any way?
My DJ set up for the show will in the rub-a-dub style. Using my collection of (reggae)dub cassettes, a few different tape decks, some basic stomp box effects (reverb, EQ, phaser) plus a few tricks and treats to put my own stamp on it. I like the idea of approaching a DJ set with specific tools and and an interest in the history of music. This being a punk show I wanted to act as the Don Lett’s character and play some dub and reggae for the punk rockers.
What should one strive for as a DJ?
I don’t ‘DJ’ often, and since it is OBEY and I want top do something very special so instead of playing some punk in the type sense, in this DJ scenario I will be employing DIY punk ethos as a basis but try and tap into the other key players in England’s original punk scene in the mid-1970’s. So in this case I am striving to make a connection between my love of punk and dub and how the two share so much in common. Street style sounds with deep roots.
Over the next couple days we will be stocking sponsors and other local shops with our official 2014 festival guide. These beautiful guides were designed by Meg Yoshida with cover art provided by Seth Smith. The stellar print job was provided by Cansel Wade. This physical version is limited to 1000 copies, so get yours soon. A downloadable version is available here. Study up!
I am honoured to play a part in the inaugural installment of Art In Fest, a standalone festival of contemporary art presented by the OBEY Convention and the Khyber Centre for the Arts. It has been a privilege to program the festival in complement to the OBEY Convention’s spirit of innovation and experimentation. Art In Fest represents a new platform for the exhibition of contemporary art in Halifax by both local and national artists. We hope that in the years to come the festival will provide an annual influx of contemporary art and will serve to engage audiences through the definition of new realities, the subversion of expectations and the description of new forms.
This year’s participating artists work across disciplines, exploring the limits of human experience through sound, video, sculpture, photography and print media. Chris Myhr’s audio installation Approaches to Erg explores how aural experience and perception are shaped by approaches to listening, conjuring a sense of the great history of nautical disaster contained in the deep waters surrounding our port city. Deirdre Logue’s video series Enlightened Nonsense directs performative self-portraiture towards the viewer, creating an empathetic itch through works which are expressly personal, emotional and political, capturing gesture, duration and the body as both subject and object.
In addition to the participation of our visiting artists, this first year also includes work shown by emerging local artists whose engaging and enriching work evinces an exciting new vernacular of visual language.
I am excited to pose the work of the artists of Art In Fest in conjunction with the events of the OBEY Convention and expand the potential for creative discovery this Spring
See you out there!
Robyn Mitchell,
Art In Fest Director
For more information on these artists and to view the full schedule, visit artinfest.org.
In an attempt to give you some insight into the minds of the fine people taking part in this year’s festival, we put together a survey for our artists to fill out. In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting the results regularly. Up first is Dave Burns, one part of Halifax’s non-hierarchical, lo-fi rock outfit Surveillance:
Are you really from Halifax? Like, really?
I’m from Bobcaygeon, Ontario, famous for the Tragically Hip song of the same name.
Would you describe yourself as an obedient person? Can you unpack that a little?
If by obedient you mean I sit like a dog and come when I’m called then to a certain extent yes. It takes a lot of guts and sacrifice to break the chain of command that we’re all forced to live with, and doing so means giving up a lot of stuff that makes life tolerable like family and friendship. Disobedience means isolation.
What’s it like to make art in Halifax?
Halifax is a beautiful yet deeply troubled place, and despite some of the great artists and organizers that work here the arts scene is as racially segregated as the city itself. Within that there’s the socially hostile youth culture that breeds homogeneity and revels in its own weak accomplishments. If you can get past the anxiety that everything you do is going to contribute to that faceless beast then there’s no shortage of inspiration. Living on the ocean is nice too.
Yes friends, OBEY Convention VII is less than three weeks away! First of all, we would like to thank all of you who bought passes and tickets in advance. You will not be disappointed. OBEY Convention VII will be our most sublime festival installment ever. We are so glad that you will be joining us for this special time in Halifax.
Passes are now getting close to sold out. So if you have put off grabbing one, please act soon. Single tickets are moving quickly too. Sadly, we turn many people away at the door each year, so get yourself setup in advance. Both tickets and passes are now available for cash purchase at Lost & Found (2383 Agricola St.) and online here.
Keep an eye on our site over the next few weeks for features on special projects and guests. And spend some time on our Artists page to learn more about this year’s program. We’ll see you all soon. Thanks for the support.
Halifax’s OBEY Convention is today revealing its full schedule. Over the course of four days, the festival will host events at Fort Massey United Church, The Seahorse Tavern, Reflections Cabaret, The Khyber Centre for the Arts, Bus Stop Theatre, Menz Bar, Lost & Found, Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, and Spring Garden Rd. Memorial Public Library (including a free concert on the library stairs).
Select individual concert tickets are now available from Ticketfly, and festival passes are still available directly from the OBEY Convention’s online shop.
OBEY Convention’s inaugural art festival, Art In Fest, will be revealing its schedule on May 7th.
As the final thr
oes of winter blow across this land and sea, we here at Atlantic Canada’s only festival of contemporary music and art for the cultural wanderer continue to work tirelessly on our coming installment. OBEY Convention VII will ride a heavy wave of freeing ideas and experiences through the beautiful city of Halifax, Nova Scotia between May 22nd and 25th. The festival will visit historic buildings, late night haunts, hidden halls, and public spaces with a collection of performances and works that challenge concepts of both what is normal and what is wyrd.
This year’s festival headliners come from across Canada, the USA, and Europe. They represent various genres and modes of musical thinking, but all of them share a penchant for performance, expression, and craft. Joining our list of already announced headliners will be world renowned ambient artist TIM HECKER (Canada), Terrible Records’ rebel-rap sensation LE1F (USA), minimal-synth darkwavers TROPIC OF CANCER (USA), pop-proggers EACH OTHER (Canada), wired-punk outfit TEENANGER (Canada), and neo-classical composer NICK STORRING (Canada). These artists join our previously announced acts—LOW (USA), JULIANNA BARWICK (USA), MAJA RATKJE (Norway), JEF BARBARA (Canada), WHITE POPPY (Canada)—and many more in a weekend that will see close to twenty non-competing, sequential events.
Part of this program will be presented by OBEY Convention’s inaugural installment of Art In Fest, a standalone festival of Canadian visual and installation works. This year’s presenting artists are DEIRDRE LOGUE, CHRIS MYHR, and ALEXIS GRISE. Openings begin on May 20th at various galleries and alternative spaces, with shows lasting throughout the weekend. For more information on Art In Fest, visit artinfest.org.
Early Bird OBEY Convention VII passes sold out in days, but a limited number of regular priced passes are now available. These passes guarantee admission to all ticketed and pass-only events. Individual concert tickets will be available when we announce our schedule on April 10th.
