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On Friday the 4 December ‘Late at the Tate’ opened its doors to ‘Extraordinary Voices’, a mixture of sound and performance that resonated through a deeply experiential encounter with the vocal cords. This event included Live Art Performers such as Afrogroov, The Feral Choir, The Funk Chorus, Geoff Fazan, The London Bulgarian Choir, Maspindzeli, members of The Shout and Mikhail Karikis. Although sound installations and acoustic artwork have been around for a long time, they have often been associated with the techno scene which was hip in the mid to late 90s and was somewhat limited to rave-parties and nightclubs. But here we have sound and art in its purest and most immediate form. 

Although, as Umberto Eco points out, music (and sound) in itself is an aesthetic art form which is detached from direct meaning. The work performed at the Tate was embedded in visual clues and narrative context of a very experimental yet suggestive nature.  In the performance by The Shout, members of the choir were perched on top of stepladders while singing a haunting duet through megaphones.  Artist and performer, Mikhail Karikis who crosses the fields of experimental vocal, electronica, avant-garde and folk music, was performing work which told the story of an office worker who transformed into a bird and sent his voice skywards on the end of a balloon. 

There were also some powerful performances from The London Bulgarian Choir and Maspindzeli, a choir devoted to singing songs from the ancient polyphonic tradition of Georgia. Furthermore, there was a strong contribution from Afrogroov, which presented their ‘Afro inspired’ work in close proximity to more Christmassy tunes. The night took place in both Gallery 9 and the Duveens - the heart of the UK art establishment, as some may call it. 

This exceptional event was organised by Home Live Art, which are Arts Council sponsored and have been making Live Art happening in the UK for over ten years. And although there was no birthday cake it seemed a great event to celebrate the achievements of Home Live Art over their ten year existence. For all those of you who have missed the night there are more opportunities to catch up with the performers: Mikhail Karikis and other video/live art work are showing at the Laure Genillard Gallery at 2 Hanway Place, London W1T 1HB until 9 January 2010.

And the next ‘Late Tate’ event to look out for will take place on the 4 January 2010 and is free.

Valeria Melchioretto