Mark Leckey @ Manchester Art Gallery

2008 Turner Prize Winner, Mark Leckey has been asked to show at the Manchester Art Gallery. He has a four week stint where he performs every Thursday at 18:45 using frequencies to interact with a huge piece of industrial metalwork. This piece of sculpture is quite catherdralesque in it's stature. I was impressed intially with the sculptural piece but then the soundwaves happened.

I didn't attend the first preview but as he is doing four shows, I am able to take in what I missed previously. After a search on youtube, I was able to fathom that he has done this particular exercise a decade ago but that doesn't drag away the monumental aspects of this show.

Sound manipulation and sound collage interests me and I like this kind of minimal but yet wholly captivating spectacle. The interact with the monlith and the giant stack of speakers was quite subtle at times but the vibrations from the floor and the sound coming from gaps within the structure was interesting.

The public who gathered to see the show waited patiently and when time came to se the show, we all wandered solemly to the exhibition space. Some people sat down knowing what was to come and some just stood as waiting for a bus. I paced the room wanting to experience the waves of frequencies to awash me.

On the walls are six large letterpressed posters stating the titles of the four pieces that he is playing each week, I definately want one of those although a copy would suffice. But, I DO want an original pressing, would look great in the living room.

In the next room was his piece ..Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore. This is a looped piece of film collage and sound that records the music and dance culture through the Northern Soul scene up to the Acid House days of the late eighties. It is a stunning piece of work and I watched it three times at the venue. I have also watched it several times after the fact and downloaded the sound piece onto the trusty iPod.

So, after the performance I went to the gallery again to ses the spectacle in a more personal way and on a isolated level. The sound piece was a dubplate of various frequencies as on the night he played with various settings, more like a live concert. My return visit was on a Sunday and with a hungover head, I enjoyed the sounds that transpired and echoed around the room.