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CODEC/X
2003, 65 min, colour, stereo, DVD

A DVD publication and touring film programme that was screened internationally between 2003-2004. CODECX featured new short works by 26 artists and musicians from north-west England. It was curated by Dave Griffiths & Nick Jordan, aiming to promote collaboration and experimentation between sonic and visual artists.

With work by Abstract Earth & Mark Pilkington, Jane Brake & Jenna Collins, Scott Byrne & Happy Fingers, Cartwright Brothers, Suki Chan & Mayming, Paul Cordwell & Loopaznavour, Joe Devlin & Ben Gwilliam, Tamzin Forster, Dave Griffiths, Jenny Hallström, Illuminati & Ben Schmark, Nick Jordan, Lee Patterson, Kristín Scheving & Spencer Marsden, Blake Quentin & Coryn Smethurst, Carl Turton.

>> See programme notes on films and artists (PDF, 252kb)

>> Publications

>> About the project:

codec: type of compression/decompression software for storage and transmission of audio-visual data - the manipulation of information, time, sound and space.

codex: a pre-printing-era manuscript, a digest or collection of items or laws - the compilation, formatting, and reproduction of texts or narratives.

CODECX presented 65 minutes of diverse work, with challenging and often humorous themes embedded to materials and processes - including animation, performance, text, noise, concept, narrative, found objects, tape and abstraction. The DVD unpacked a playful list of new proposals, aiming to encourage discourse about technology, materials, and conventions in contemporary practice. The artists explored tensions between perfection & instability; the minutiae of spaces and moments; the inscription and abandonment of laws; creation of light and time; complexity of language and meaning, and the architecture in 'intelligent' machines. This non-profit project was a response to the growing movement of independent spaces and audiences from a variety of scenes: galleries, microcinemas, experimental music, and artist-run events. The touring programme was made available free to curators, programmers, microcinemas, distributors and websites who are seeking contemporary, experimental, time-based work. The DVD distribution was supported by Arts Council England.

The programme screened at 23 galleries, festivals, artist-run cinemas and academic institutions including Zion Arts, Manchester; Soho Curzon, London; Hull Time-Based Art; Huddersfield University, University of East Anglia, Keele University; Sonic Arts Network, Leicester; Folly Gallery, Lancaster; Zaal de Unie, Rotterdam; Belgrade Summer Festival; WRO Center for Media Art, Wroclaw; Bergen College of Art; Estonian Academy of Art, Tallinn; Antimatter Festival, Victoria Island (Canada); Wolfsonian Museum, Miami; Send+Receive Festival of Sound, Winnipeg; and Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, Australia.

Selections from the publication screened in Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Lancaster, Nottingham, Norwich, Hull, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Lisbon, Prague, Valencia, Paris, Berlin, Perm City, Brooklyn, Montreal, Indianapolis, Austin, Chiang Mai and Melbourne.