Barnaby Festival is working in partnership with Macclesfield Silk Museums on the headline Barnaby Art commission from Owl Project.
Owl Project is a collaborative group of artists working with wood and electronics to fuse sculpture and sound art.
Owl Project has been commissioned by Barnaby Festival to create a work inspired by Paradise Mill – one of Macclesfield’s silk museums. Their new work ‘Play the Jaquard Loom’ explores what would happen if you tried to connect a Jaquard Loom to electronic, sound-making technology.
Paradise Mill on Park Lane and has 26 restored jacquard looms. The wooden loom is mechanical and was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard. It simplified the process of making textiles, particularly those with complex patterns like damask, which were produced in Macclesfield.
Simon Blackmore from Owl Project, said: “The idea behind ‘Play the Jaquard Loom’ was to try and see how we could adapt a loom to become a musical instrument.
“The loom’s actions will be turned into sound and the punch cards will become a musical score. Jaquard Looms and the type of synthesiser we are building are both fiendishly complex, so the whole project is really experimental. “
The Owl Project piece is one of four Barnaby commission’s made possible thanks to a grant from the Arts Council England.
The Barnaby Festival runs from Sat 14 – Sun 29 June.