The Quiet Volume by Ant Hampton & Tim Etchells

Playing upon and exploiting the particular tension common and inherent to any library in the world, the Quiet Volume is a whispered, self-generated performance for two at a time. Through a combination of silence and concentration, the performance unravels the different reading experiences of a pair. Two readers will sit side by side, taking cues from words both written and whispered, they will descend down an unlikely path through a pile of books.

This performance is a strong piece, exposing the strange magic at the heart of reading experiences and allowing strips of what we perceived as pur deep internalised perspectives to escape and leak, morphing from one reader’s sphere to another’s. The Quiet Volume is part of London’s Word Festival 2011 and will tour a number of contrasting library spaces  in London.

More about the artists

Ant Hampton is a performance maker, writer and director. He founded Rotozaza in 1998, a project which has explored the use of instructions given to unrehearsed ‘guest’ performers, both on stage and, more recently, within more intimate structures sustained and played-out by the audience themselves: a project know as Autoteatro.

Tim Etchells is an artist working across performance, visual art and fiction. He has led Sheffield theatre company Forced Entertainment since 1984 and has worked artistically, critically and academically for institutions across the world. 

Please note that The Quiet Volume is an experience for two people and for ticket booking, please see London Word Festival for more information. 

Single-Ticket Days

11 and 12 April at Bishopsgate Institute Library

20 and 21 April at Hackney Library

Ticket prices: £6 / £5 conc. (single ticket holders will be paired with a partner to enjoy the event)

Locations

Bishopgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4QH

Hackney Central Library, Hackney Technology and Learning Centre, 1 Reading Lane, London E8 1GQ