THE BEAUTIFUL EPOCH OF AVANT GARDE SPORT

ERGO PHIZMIZ PLC

ROCOCO CHANEL

DEPRESSTIVAL

THE SUPERFOOLS

present

THE BEAUTIFUL EPOCH OF 

AVANT-GARDE SPORT

A SEXY VAMP ON THE SEAFRONT WANDERS, BEDECKED IN SUNSHINE, AND WANTONLY THROWS SHAPES. BESIDE HER, JOGGING IT'S

THE

MEDIA

WHORE

OF

SHOCK

AND

AWE.

AVANT-SPORT

AVANT-GARDE ART IS, OF COURSE, ANATHEMA TO OUR TIMES IN THIS GREEN, UNPLEASANT LAND.

WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING AWKWARD?

AND EVERYBODY LEAVES.

BUT

THIS IS NOT THE PROPOSITION OF

THESE TWO WANDERING

CULTURAL

MOVERS-AND-SHAKERS.

NO!

WE ARE NOT INTERESTED

IN WHAT YOU CRETINS

CALL ART!

WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN ANYTHING

YOU CRETINS

HAVE TO SAY, EVER.

(IT IS HARD BEING EXTREMELY TALENTED AND EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL)

BECAUSE YOU ARE UNCERTAIN OF BOTH

YOUR PRODIGIOUS TALENT

AND

YOUR FASCINATING BEAUTY

YOU ARE DRIVEN

BY THE NEED TO COMPETE

AND NOW WITH

YOUR

FUCKING

SINGING

CONTESTS

YOU HAVE ART IN YOUR CLUTCHES.

SPORT        SPORT      AVANT

AND SO AS A NATURAL EXCHANGE

IN THE SPIRIT OF

YOUR

GLORIOUS

CAPITALISM

WE WILL PLAY THE GAME OF EXCHANGE

AND

CLAIM YOUR SPORT AS OUR OWN

AVANT-GARDE        SPORT        SPORT

NOW IS THE AGE OF AVANT-GARDE SPORT

DOWN WITH COMPETITION

UP WITH SPORTSWEAR

FLAMBOYANCE

TIGHT SPANDEX

TINY SHORTS

V-NECK SLEEVELESS TOPS

POSING

WITH

GOLF

CLUBS

AND BY NATURAL EXTENSION

THE INVENTION OF NEW SPORTS

EVERY DAY

EQUALLING 365 NEW SPORTS

PER HEAD

PER ANNUM

AVANT-GARDE SPORT

IS THE FUTURIST

UTOPIAN DEMOCRACY

OF PERPETUAL INVENTION

DOWN WITH RULES!

UP WITH FREE SPORT IMPROVISATION!

WHITE TENNIS SHOES

SPORTS SOCKS (WITH NO OTHER CLOTHES)

SPORT                     AVANT

ANYTHING THAT MAKES PEOPLE SAY

"OOOH YOU LOOK VERY SPORTY"

IT FEELS FUCKING AMAZING DOESN'T IT

SPORT                     GARDE

AVANT GARDE SPORT

RECLAIM YOUR WORLD

MAKE A DIFFERENCE  

LIVE PERFORMANCES COMING UP

 
There are plentiful opportunities to see Dominic's work live on stage in the coming months...here are just a few, and many more to be announced shortly...

26/07 - The Agitprop Allstars present "The United Kingdom of Earth" Tete-a-Tete: The Opera Festival, London

05/08 - "A Heathening With Dominic Robertson" Quay Arts, Isle of Wight

07/09 - The Hidden Noise present "The United Kingdom of Earth" CCA, Glasgow

17/09 - Mahogany Opera Group present"Mozart vs Machine" Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh

26/09 - Mahogany Opera Group present"Mozart vs Machine" Norwich Arts Centre

07/10 - Dominic Robertson Live at Festival Blaues Rauschen, Herne, DE

Velázquez Entymological Dreams

Paper collages, generally between A3 and A2. Click to make 'em big. If you like one of these and would like it on your wall, contact me.

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF EARTH: A BREXIT OPERA

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF EARTH

A Brexit Opera

UK Premiere Performances

July 26^th

The Agitprop Allstars present "The United Kingdom of Earth"

Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, London

September 7^th

The Hidden Noise present "The United Kingdom of Earth"

CCA Glasgow

In a not-too-distant future, having avoided some nuclear misunderstanding that engulfed the rest of the planet, a post-Brexit Britain finds itself surrounded by nothing but scorched earth. How do people from the everyday family home to the corridors of power cope with this? And what on earth is Boris doing in Downing Street in a tie-dye suit?

An epic community opera with electronic music, performed by a cast of professional and non-professional actors and singers, “The United Kingdom of Earth” is a wide ranging satire on British values, beliefs, and histories.

As a “non-denominational satire” the piece chooses not to take a particular political angle, so is suitable viewing for all of you whatever your stance on the Brexit argument. A comedy of manners, “The United Kingdom of Earth” combines killer songs with spoken-word and synthesised sound to create an evocative picture of a country looking backwards at itself.

A production of composer, writer, collagist Dominic Robertson - formerly known as Ergo Phizmiz – who, over the past twenty years, has become a prolific maverick of UK and international theatre, opera, radio, and independent music worlds.

Rotterdam’s Worm Institute was the incubator of this piece, which received its first performances in November 2016 at the Ubik Theatre.

Hear music from the show https://composterofmusic.bandcamp.com/album/that-happy-breed-ep

Crowdfunder http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/that-happy-breed-a-brexit-opera

Hear a song from the show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kddC49-2qZU

Trailer for Rotterdam production https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp7A7edZHRY

Dominic Robertson is available for interview deedubyarobertson@gmail.com

Crowdfunding the Brexit Opera!

That's right, in a heady return to the world of crowdfunding, "England's Greatest Entertainer" takes you on a country walk.

Donate HERE! And please tell all your friends!

THAT HAPPY BREED IN LONDON - CASTING CALL

"That Happy Breed: A Brexit Science-Fiction Community Opera" is to play London on July 26th, full details tba shortly. In the meantime, a casting call!

And don't forget, "That Happy Breed" receives its UK premiere at CCA Glasgow, May 18th 2017, with a cast of Glasgow's finest.

The Unreleased Ergo Phizmiz Volume One

Between 2001-2015 Dominic Robertson's erstwhile alter-ego Ergo Phizmiz released hundreds of hours of music, radio, theatre and installation art. At the same time, he released three records of critically acclaimed songwriting on independent label Care in the Community Recordings: "Things to Do and Make", "Eleven Songs" and "The Peacock". These records were culled from a huge amount of tracks in collaboration with the label, leaving the rest waiting for their moment in the sunshine.

And here it is! Volume One of "The Unreleased Ergo Phizmiz", ten songs produced between 2007-2015, never previously heard except at live shows here and there. One review of "Things to Do and Make" pointed out that the release "goes to show that major record labels have lost touch completely", and these songs give further credence to this statement. Ergo Phizmiz trundled on with this music until the sense of futility won out and the only thing to do was stop and try to gather perspective.

At a time when other outsider DIY songwriters are being given their just dues, it's about time this music was heard by a wider audience. So send it to your friends, play it at your parties, put it on your radioshow. If you have spare pennies, buy it and help one of the most productive artists on the planet pay his long overdue rent and bills!

BREXIT SONGS FOR EVERYONE!

 

OUT NOW!

BREXIT SONGS FOR EVERYONE!

Side 52 / Side 48

Songs for your Brexit experience, whatever your political inclination.

New Collages & Transfer Prints

Here are a big bunch of images I've been scribbling on and chopping. Click to enlarge. My pictures are for sale - but of course, and I need to pay the rent - so! If you like any of my images so much that you just can't stop thinking about them, you lose sleep, you long just to return to your screen, then get in touch and we can arrange a very reasonable price with which you can decorate your already stylish and elegant household.

Most of these images are small, maximum A3 size, except LoopLoop which is massive and built inside what appears to be a window-frame.

A Kiss

Adieu

Angel on the Roof

Children Learn All About Machines

Devils to Drop

In Clouds

LoopLoop

Of Vision

Sailor's Death

Saint Joan's Invocation

Someone in the Garden

The Age of Steam

The Screaming Puzzle

The Yellow House

That Happy Breed EP

 

This is the soundtrack to all of your Brexit related fears and neuroses!

We present music to save the Queen by, music to cut off your borders by, music to listen to the Queen by, music for politicians to forget their troubles by, music to beat up your friends by, music to celebrate the special relationship by, music to see in fewer dimensions by, and music to burn the world by.

An 8 track EP of music from the world's first Brexit opera "That Happy Breed", recorded in the marvellous Worm Sound Studio, Rotterdam, by Dominic Robertson, assisted by Andrew Dickinson, 2016.

"That Happy Breed" is a giant community-play-opera, a science-fiction story of Britain in a not-too-distant future, after the Brexit has occurred, for better or worse, till death, etc ...

It is being performed with different casts across the UK during 2017, starting with Glasgow's CCA in May.

"That Happy Breed" is a commission of Worm, Rotterdam.

Three Collage Films

Three collage films by Dominic Robertson, produced 2016-2017.

"Seine Saint Denis 1954" (2016)

"Icon Painting - Saint Joan" (2016-2017)

"Mrs Keble" (2017)

Boubouroche - A Longer Player

"Boubouroche" - A Longer Player by Dominic Robertson

The Sun God be praised! From one of the world's most prolific and inventive composers comes his first long(er) player in nigh on three years, and the first to be released since dropping the moniker Ergo Phizmiz - a name under which he released hundreds of hours of music.

"Boubouroche" is an epic odyssey through experimental pop music, fragmented classical, electronic work-outs, and mutant disco. Recorded between 2015-2016, the album combines musical craftsmanship and a flawless sense of melody with Dominic's trademark nihilistic humour, from the pitch-perfect pop of "Waresley Wood" and "Disposable Love Song", the sledgehammer satire of "NME", the fragile de-collage of "Salad Amadeus", to the relentless churn of Casio keyboard bangers like "Pavilion Two Step" and "Uncertainty Disco".

Combining original composition with found-lyrics and reconstituted historical music, this is an album imbued with a dual sense of magic and radicalism. Songs of bad romance, art history, catholic fantasy, science-fiction collide with impeccable instrumentals to create an unforgettable record unlike any other you are likely to hear this, or any, year. And that includes the new record by Steps, brilliant though it will surely be.

The lyrical content of the record is taken from all over the place - newspapers, history books, political pamphlets, music magazines, cheap romance novels, art documentaries, and found handwritten CD cases.

Dominic Robertson is a composer, writer, collagist, theatre director, installation artist, film-maker, actor, performance-artist, and creator of radio-plays. Across the past 17 years he has developed a reputation as one of the most uncompromising and unique artists in the world. His music has been released by Discrepant, Care in the Community Recordings, Gagarin Records, DePlayer, Soleilmoon, and Illegal Art, and his highly acclaimed radio work broadcast on Bayerischer Rundfunk, WDR, WFMU, Resonance FM, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6Music and Deutschlandradiokultur. For many years he released countless hours of music for free online, under a Creative Commons license - there are over 3000 videos using his music now online. Elsewhere he has created television for Channel 4, operas for Mahogany Opera Group and Tete-a-Tete Opera, the soundtrack to acclaimed Coney Island documentary "Famous Nathan", and most recently the Brexit science-fiction opera / community play "That Happy Breed" for Worm, Rotterdam. Among the artists with whom he has collaborated are Lukas Simonis, R Stevie Moore, Felix Kubin, Frederic Wake-Walker, Vicki Bennett / People Like Us, Frankie Boyle, Pollyester, Patrick Sims, and Luke Fowler. A retrospective book of his visual work was published as "Cold Collation" by the arts publisher Content Series in 2015. His writing has been published by the International Journal for Flann O'Brien Studies, DePlayer, and The Wire magazine.

"Boubourouche" is performed on voice, piano, violin, electric guitar, electronic keyboards, bird-whistle, Newton's Cradle, feedback, and sound-collage, and is entirely recorded in the brown carpeted box that is Casseablanca Studios, in the home of brown that is Bridport, UK. The costumes on the front cover, and photographs, are by Kitty Callister, taken during rehearsals for Mahogany Opera Group's "Mozart vs Machine" in Folkestone.

This album is dedicated to Dominic's dad, Stormin' Norman.

That Happy Breed - Brexit Opera, at CCA Glasgow

Delighted to announce that my Brexit science-fiction opera "That Happy Breed" plays in Glasgow at the CCA on May 18th, with a cast of locals. Huge thanks to Shireen Taylor at The Hidden Noise for making this happen.

In a not too distant future an isolated Britain survives on an otherwise scorched earth, saved from nuclear misunderstandings by Brexit. "That Happy Breed" is a science-fiction vision of "an island in the moon", adrift on shared history and past glories, visions of empire and sightings of rabbits on the copse. 

Utopia or dystopia? Either way, something is bubbling under the civilised surface of day to day life, and there doesn't seem to be anything anybody can do to stop it.
 
And the earth itself? It's flat!
 
"That Happy Breed" is presented with a cast of local people wherever it goes. A large scale community play with songs, music, Morris dancing, marching, a dash of Christmas, and a special appearance by Her Majesty the Queen.
 
"That Happy Breed" is a commission of Worm, Rotterdam.

Facebook event page for "That Happy Breed" at CCA Glasgow.

Watch the trailer for the original Rotterdam production of the show ...

 
Watch this flat earth in space for news about further UK productions of this timely parable and a forthcoming publication. Interested in staging it in your town? Get in touch with either yours truly or the good folk of Worm... 

Think you know Mozart? Think again...

Clips from Mahogany Opera's production of the opera wot I wrote, "Mozart vs Machine", which premiered at Profound Sound, Folkestone, February 2017.

 

Mozart Vs Machine

Mahogany Opera Group presents an electronic essay collage opera mashing-up Mozart, electronic sound and video. 

 

Mozart vs Machine is a high-octane mash-up of Mozart opera, electronic sound and video projection, bringing some of history’s most iconic artists together in a theatrical sci-fi-gameshow encounter.

Alone in his Manhattan research laboratory, Raymond Scott, the father of electronic music, is developing a machine to generate random musical patterns. When one of his devices accidentally tears a hole in the universe it distorts time and brings him face to face with classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

What follows is a fantastical journey through ideas of art and ownership, time and music shaken up through unexpected directions and random chance, culminating in a surreal, vaudevillian show trial. All with a little help from film-pioneer Georges Méliès, Lewis Carroll’s logic games, and composers John Cage and J S Bach.

In Mozart vs Machine, composer Dominic Robertson (the artist formerly known as Ergo Phizmiz) pieces together ideas and notes from across history into an irreverent collage of music and theatre that blurs the boundaries of opera and performance art. Think you know Mozart? Think again…

MOZART vs MACHINE premieres at Profound Sound Festival, Folkestone Fringe, February 3rd 2017.

A Mahogany Opera Group production
Developed through Mahogany's Various Stages programme with generous support from Sound and Music