Artists Statement

Performance with Gary Mentanko iLogs, m-Logs, laptops, wood and saw

Owl Project is a collaborative group of Manchester based artists who share interests in human interaction with technology and process led art. The group currently consists of  Simon  Blackmore, Antony Hall and Steve Symons. Over the last few years we have become known for a distinctive range of wooden musical and sculptural instruments that critique human interaction with computer interfaces and our increasing appetite for new and often disposable technologies. Since 2004 we have been developing a range of portable instruments that mimic the desirability of handheld gadgets but are more rustic in appearance and obscure in functionality.
Examples being the iLog Rustle which records up to 20 seconds of sound and reduces it into distorted fragments, the iLog Photosynthesiser which converts light into audio, and the m-Log (a wooden gestural computer interface).

• Simon Blackmore, Tony Hall & Steve Symons. Drawing on influences such as woodworking, hobby style electronics and open source software to create music-making machines, the Owl Project take a craft-based approach to designing our own interfaces and objects. The result is a distinctive range of musical and sculptural instruments that critique human interaction with computer interfaces and our increasing appetite for new and often disposable technologies. We are known for our classic log1k, the hand held iLog and m-Log; and of course the Sound Lathe (which produces fractured beats, electronica and wood chippings). The Owl Project has been nominated for the Share.IT award, the Great Northern Art Prize and commissioned by LoveBytes and ‘Concrete and Glass’. We have played and collaborated and performed with a range of musicians and artists such as Leafcutter John, Thor Magnusson, Alog and Philip Jeck.

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