The Quiet Volume is a whispered, self-generated and 'automatic' performancefor two at a time, exploiting the particular tension common to any library worldwide; a combination of silence and concentration within which different peoples' experiences of reading unfold.

Two audience members / participants sit side-by-side. Taking cues from words both written and whispered they find themselves burrowing an unlikely path through a pile of books. The piece exposes the strange magic at the heart of the reading experience, allowing aspects of it we think of as deeply internal to lean out into the surrounding space, and to leak from one reader's sphere into another's.

Ant Hampton, London

Ant Hampton (1975) is a performance maker, writer and director. He founded Rotozaza (1998 – 2008), 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 (Autoteatro). Since 2008 he has initiated a number of collaborations: True Riches, with Tim Etchells; GuruGuru, with Joji Koyama and Sam Britton; The Bench, with Glen Neath. He continues an ongoing exploration of “live portraiture” with Greg McLaren as “The Other People” (La Otra Gente): structured encounters with people from non-theatrical milieu. He was chief dramaturge for “Projected Scenarios” at Manifesta 7 European Biennial for Contemporary Art, Italy. He has contributed to projects by Jérôme Bel and Forced Entertainment.

www.anthampton.com

Tim Etchells, Sheffield / New York

Tim Etchells (1962) is an artist and a writer based in the UK. He has worked in a wide variety of contexts and is the artistic director of the world-renowned performance group Forced Entertainment. His work spans performance, video, photography, text projects, installation and fiction. He is the author of Certain Fragments (Routledge, 1999) and published his first novel The Broken World with Heinemann in 2008. He has exhibited widely in venues including MACBA, Barcelona (2009), Göteborg Biennial (2009), Art Sheffield (2008), Manifesta 7 (2008). He is currently Legacy: Thinker in Residence (2009–2010) at Tate Research and LADA in London.

www.timetchells.com
www.forcedentertainment.com