New power generation (From Wirral Globe)

New power generation

9:20am Friday 28th November 2008

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ORCHESTRAL Manoeuvres In The Dark frontman Andy McCluskey is part of the team behind a new audio-visual art installation about Northwest power stations.

The Energy Suite - on display at FACT in Wood Street, Liverpool, from December 12 until February 22 - captures the architecture and sounds of five electricity generating power stations.

For the project, Frankby-based Andy teamed up with internationally renowned designer Peter Saville and Liverpool-based video artist Hambi Haralambous, who made the 26 films that were used during the group’s Architecture & Morality tour last year.

OMD have had a long association with Peter and the show fufills an early ambition of Andy and Peter’s to create what was originally going to be a work based on Stanlow Oli Refinery, the subject of one of the band’s songs from 1980 that used sounds recorded at the Ellesmere Port site.

Featured in the new artwork are Heysham Nuclear Power Site, North Hoyle Bank Wind Turbine, Fiddler’s Ferry Coal Fired Power Station, Point of Ayr Gas Station and Connah’s Grid.

The sights and sounds were captured, with music inspired by what the team found.

Looking forward to the exhibition, Andy told the Globe: “When OMD started to be a functioning band again one of the first calls came from Peter, who reminded me that many years ago, we decided to do an audio/visual installation. "We share this fascination with industrial sites, because they are very powerful, visual objects. Peter has for many years had this mantra ‘It all looks like art to me now’ and this is the philosophy behind the installation.

“Rather than re-hash Stanlow we decided to do some new visuals and create new pieces of music. The amazing thing was that all of the sites allowed us in to film. "We now have a suite of five pieces of music that are based on what we have heard and saw during our visits. In the films, we have chosen to make no political or moral judgements on the places featured. I think that people will go and make up their own minds and be enchanted by it.”

The former Calday Grange Grammar School pupil continued: “The audience will have preconceptions and I hope it will make people look at and think about the buildings’ surroundings with new eyes. We could have taken sponsorship from the companies which own the sites, but decided not to and have funded this ourselves.

“During our research we noticed that as you approach Point of Ayr there is this eerie silence and a low buzz, which is in the key of G.”

The other stations weren’t in any particular key. Their work is part of “Ding Dong”, a major exhibition of sound, design music and interaction that forms part of the Capital of Culture.

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