Shit! I can DJ | Lisa Busby

A group of works linked by a preoccupation with the multitude of forms that make up DJ practice, and their inbetween.
An edge or fringe space for me to think about playback, the mix, and associated hardware in my own way.
Often small scale, domestic or intimate. Sometimes solitary.

(1) Performances and ‘Sets’

Face-off
Art Jericho, Oxford, 4.9.10
Performed with John Harries

A sonic and structural intervention into David Dixon’s work Entangled Practice.

Dancing on my Own
Southbank Centre, London, 9.5.13

Part video installation, part performance art and part live mix - a private, enclosed ‘warm up’ DJ set performed to no audience, taking place in a dressing room deep within the Southbank Centre. In a live broadcast the viewing public could see and hear the playback, the ambience of the room and my movements as I get ready to go onstage with a live ensemble later in the evening.

Untitled, for Police Cell
The Old Deptford Police Station, 7.9.13

Audio books and spoken word cassettes were collaged with a series of oral histories collected by the artist (recorded directly to cassette) of various perspectives on and memories of audio cassettes.

Untitled, for 5 Cassette Walkmans
Empty shop, New Cross, 8.11.13
Performed with Aviram Barath

5 cassette Walkman devices as independent sounding elements - no use of a mixer or PA. A blend of sharp edits with noisy overlays, extended ambience with abrasive bursts of familiar pop hooks. Some extended techniques included manual speed control by ‘scratching’ drive belts, and live circuit bending of the internal boards.

Work 6. For a gallery.
The Gallery at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, 23.11.13
Performed with John Harries, Aviram Barath
Technical build assistance from Hugh Jones
Composition of original ‘Winter Synth Improvisations’
by Aviram Barath

Cassette Walkmans were used to create an alternative festive soundtrack incorporating field recordings of seasonal sounds, Christmas carols and pop hits, and an original synth soundtrack written for the event. The visiting public were invited to record their own memories, songs, sounds relating to winter and Christmas live in the gallery, which the performers then incorporated into the ongoing set.

(2) Instruction scores and associated performances

Noise Relay
Audiograft Festival 2011, Modern Art Oxford, 19/2/11
Performed with John Harries, Alvin Ryan, Paul Hearn

Any number of players including the general public, only domestic equipment, and no knowledge of each other’s material in a performance context.

Dancing in the Dark
Supernormal Festival, Oxfordshire, 10/8/13
Performed with John Harries

Chance actions of an accompanying performer determined the content of the set.

(3) Installation, sculpture, hardware

Two people in a clock by the digital sea
Wonderland, O3 Gallery, Oxford, 7.7.12 – 5.8.12
Arduino coding - Jeremy Keenan

Original audio works placed inside customised or ‘hacked‘ vintage music boxes. This work was presented as a collection of interactive objects to be performed or ‘DJ-ed’ by the audience.

I vote the young lady tells us a story
Wonderland, O3 Gallery, Oxford, 7.7.12 – 5.8.12
Musical Technologies: Old and New, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 22.2.13
Co-composer - John Harries

A series of new compositions were resonated, with piezo transducers, in a collection of found objects. These resonators were DJ-ed alongside existing cassettes, vinyl and toy sound-makers.