“Mind Labs” is Sheffield Live’s slot for cutting edge creative work.   It is a space for dealing with stories, issues, philosophical questions and concepts. During the summer we produced two peices of work for this slot, which you can play back here:

Music By Numbers

10 years ago, two Russian artists named Komar and Melamid hired a market research firm to find out the public’s likes and dislikes in art. They wanted to know what works, but moreover they wanted to know what doesn’t work. They began with visual art, and then moved on to music.Online surveys were used to determine what instruments and styles were most favourable in music. The same question was then asked with respect to unfavourable music. They then created two pieces. One which in principle should be enjoyed by the majority and one which should in turn, only be favoured by a small, small minority. This week on Sheffield Live we’re going to play both and in the process find out what happens when you try to make “Music by Numbers”. Presented by Lynn Rishworth.

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Wireless Times

Wireless Times is the on-stage riotous retro radio recreation that has the audience rolling in the aisles, coming from a time when a DJ was a dinner jacket and a big Mac was a large overcoat. Reeling from one disaster to another, the cast often need the help of the audience to create the sound effects for the various ’spots’ being broadcast. Playing anything from a football crowd to the cavalry in the Charge of the Light Brigade (involving an unfeasibly large number of coconut shells), the audience unfailingly rescue the broadcasting crew from impending doom, and probably dismissal.

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