Tim Ferguson aka ENCOSION

Mar 10

“Energy and Delight of Youth” by Tim Ferguson for ARTOUR-O Florence in association with Art Caffe London (10th to 13th March 2011)

Installation for an exhibition in Florence, Italy. A series of single exposure photos straight from camera (No post-processing: 30 second exposures at ISO 100 and f32) exhibited along with 2 asynchronous stereo audio loops (hence ‘Excerpt, Simulated Mix’ in the title) playing indefinitely through 4 active speakers surrounding the photos. Exhibited in the outside garden of the Villa La Vedetta hotel overlooking Florence.

The theme of the exhibit revolves around childhood memory and play. I worked with photos and sound recordings of my niece and nephew playing on a trampoline in Birmingham, as well as incorporating the sounds recorded during each 30 second exposure around London.

An installation full of contradictions - night-time photos displayed during the day in a sun-lit garden; incongruous photographic subjects captured in a single time and place; the sounds of kids playing, the sounds of heavy traffic; Birmingham, London, Florence; etc. A bit of fun!

Jan 27

Jamming with Markus Popp

Got a pleasant email last night telling me that I’m “jamming with Markus Popp” in an ambient UFO-themed improv mix by Latvian artists Snobo & Bombey. They bring in my “When the Jackal Marries the Wolf’s Wife” track briefly at 57:10. I’m loving the description of their creative process on Discrepant - it’s an impressive collaboration worth a read / listen!

Jan 13

Help execute my sound installation

I’m trying to create a proximity/motion sensor to trigger a soundclip from a small MP3 player (cheap little knock-off from eBay). The MP3 player would be constantly playing the soundclip in an infinite loop. I’d attach a speaker to the headphone jack of the MP3 player, then interrupt the cable (somehow?) with a simple on/off toggle to interrupt/transfer the sound to the speaker. The toggle would be controlled by a proximity/motion sensor. I plan to have about 6 of these running at the same time being triggered by visitors to the exhibition.

Does this sound plausible / achievable? What components should I look out for at Maplins? Where should I look online to find help? Do you think this type of toggle/sensor combination exists off the shelf? What would it be called? Can an outside ‘security’ light be frankensteined to work? Any help / pointers would be massively appreciated! What am I missing?

Jul 22

This is my sound installation - “In Situ with Alex” (Artwork by Alex Noble) - for the “Join” exhibit at the Floor Ten Gallery (Bow, East London):

Original proposal: “It’d be interesting to compose a piece around an exhibiting artist - a casual interview about their work, the soundscape of them at work etc. It would be akin to a third party reviewing the artist’s work, adding a fresh perspective instead of the usual blurb written up by the artist him/herself or gallery curator. I am imagining the piece to be more abstract than lyrical, and open to interpretation. This is not about judgement / critique, more about interpretation and perspectives. Initial thoughts are to run with whatever inspires me about the work / the artist / their studio / the gallery space. It wouldn’t be so much about an actual interview - I would see dialogue being used more like paint to express my own feelings and understandings of the work… It would require an artist willing to participate and have my sound installation exhibited alongside their work. I would also need a few hours access to them / their work / studio for recordings and interviews.”

Jul 02

My sound installation went live at the Floor Ten Gallery last Saturday. It’s a piece about an artist / his work / his environment and the area surrounding the exhibit. The launch party was awesome! It’s available to view along with works from 10 other artists from 1 to 5pm this Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s my original proposal: “It’d be interesting to compose a piece around an exhibiting artist - a casual interview about their work, the soundscape of them at work etc. It would be akin to a third party reviewing the artist’s work, adding a fresh perspective instead of the usual blurb written up by the artist him/herself or gallery curator. I am imagining the piece to be more abstract than lyrical, and open to interpretation. This is not about judgement / critique, more about interpretation and perspectives. Initial thoughts are to run with whatever inspires me about the work / the artist / their studio / the gallery space. It wouldn’t be so much about an actual interview - I would see dialogue being used more like paint to express my own feelings and understandings of the work… It would require an artist willing to participate and have my sound installation exhibited alongside their work. I would also need a few hours access to them / their work / studio for recordings and interviews.”

Aug 17

“United Improvements” by Alex Noble. The results of our collaboration. Gaze at this whilst listening to St I ets (1st Draft):

Aug 14

Tim Ferguson - St I ets (1st Draft) Field recordings from St. Ives for a weekly project I’ve started in collaboration with an artist from Bow. Tourism, sea, gulls and sundry…

Jan 31

Tim Ferguson - When the Jackal Marries the Wolf’s Wife (3rd Draft) I was kindly asked to submit a track for an upcoming compilation, the theme of which revolves around one’s subjective definition of nature. The title of this track derives from my thoughts about a monkey’s wedding - typically known as sunshower in many parts of the world. It turns out that this is a common South African English saying, loaned directly from the Zulu phrase: umshado wezinkawu. I had a hunch that not many people would understand what a monkey’s wedding was. So I did a spot of research and discovered a plethora of different animals getting married in the rain all over the world! Could be fuel for some similarly themed tracks in the future… The title I settled on is an English translation of the Afrikaans version: jakkalstrou

Sep 03

Tim Ferguson - Oscillating Trees (1st Draft) Finally a bit of progress… Here’s some created and found sound for you all to chill out to… Not much in the way of standard song structure or rhythm… No vocals either… But I’m liking it for what it is at the moment…

Aug 11

Radiohead - Nude (Let’s up the Beat of them Blues, TAET Remix)

A fun, lo-fi, up-beat version of Radiohead’s Nude track… Pretty rough, but I’m gonna stop working on it for now… I basically replaced Radiohead’s drums with a pre-fab wall, a glass door, a wine glass, a cd case and a Japanese chocolate bar called Ghana! The song’s original time-signature is 6/8 but I force-sync’d a 4/4 beat on top of it… Turned out a lot perkier than the original! I needed to ‘get this out the door’… Just a bit of fun… You may even spot a little harmony I did with Thom if you’re lucky! Leave a comment and let me know what you think pretty please? Ta!

		Tim Ferguson Music, Photos, Design