Brainwashed Review
Norman Records Review
Miramoglu Review

Like the film and web project of the same name, the album Dummy Jim has been inspired by James Duthie’s book I Cycled Into The Arctic Circle.

'deep-seated eccentricity'

The album bears the fruit of a collaboration between The One Ensemble & Sarah Kenchington, with gentle guidance from Matt Hulse.

The music will form the basis for the soundtrack of Matt’s feature & the performers are set to appear in the film.

The project was supported by the Scottish Arts Council and Arika.

The first review comes from Brainwashed:

I haven’t seen Dummy Jim yet, but if this soundtrack is any indication, it must be a truly unconventional and memorable film. With the aid of bizarre instrument builder Sarah Kenchington, Daniel Padden and his cohorts have created a kaleidoscopic collision of traditional Anglo-folk, free jazz, drone, and deep-seated eccentricity that sounds like absolutely no one else. Anthony D’Amico

Read full review …

To purchase the album & join the growing list of Kindly Folk who are helping to make the film, please visit Dummy Jim’s shop.

For one night only, from 8pm on Friday 18th December 2009 at Stereo (Glasgow), the Dummy Jim concert is back. DRESS CODE: FISH, FISHING & THE NORTH SEA

The One Ensemble & Sarah Kenchington will once again perform their suite of new works inspired by the story of James Duthie, a profoundly deaf Aberdeenshire man, who cycled solo on a 3000 mile return trip to the far north of Europe in 1951.

Sadly he was killed in a mysterious road accident in 1965.

According to his surviving cousin, 85 year old Joy Buchan, he set off on his adventure with just a couple of jumpers, a blanket & a pair of ‘khaki knickers’ with only £12 in the pocket.

Duthie later penned a journal called ‘I Cycled Into The Arctic Circle’ that artist Matt Hulse has evolved over the past 8 years as a project for web, cinema and now also as a book, called Dummy Jim.

Concert at Dovecot Studios

The music created by The One Ensemble & Sarah Kenchington is the result of an SAC New Music Award.

With additional support from Arika, the works premiered will form the basis of the soundtrack for Matt’s next feature film.

This special performance is a vibrant example of expanded cinema, with Super 8mm film projections shot on location along the route of Duthie’s original trip, extracts from the  journal and cut-ups of Hulse’s screenplay.

The new album Dummy Jim (released on Unshaped Led) will be available for just £10.

Sales of the album go into the making of the Dummy Jim film.

Sarah Kenchington

If you’d like a copy in advance so you can sing / sway / shadowbox along, just head along to Dummy Jim’s shop.

Additionally, Sokobauno Puppet Theatre have created a shadow peep box inspired by Dummy Jim’s story and this will be on show before and during the concert.

Oh, and there’ll be a raffle, too.

£3 on the door – Doors 8pm – please get there early.

Stereo Cafe Bar
20 Renfield Lane
Glasgow, G2 5AR
0141 222 2254

DRESS CODE: FISH, FISHING & THE NORTH SEA

LINKS

THE ONE ENSEMBLE
http://www.myspace.com/theoneensemble

DANIEL PADDEN & SARAH KENCHINGTON
http://www.myspace.com/paddenkenchington

According to his surviving cousin, 85 year old Joy Buchan, he set off on his adventure with just a couple of jumpers, a blanket & a pair of ‘khaki knickers’ with only £12 in the pocket.

Duthie later penned a journal called ‘I Cycled Into The Arctic Circle’ that film maker & artist Matt Hulse has evolved over the past 8 years as a project for web & cinema, called Dummy Jim.

The music created by The One Ensemble & Sarah Kenchington is the result of an SAC New Music Award. With additional support from Arika, the works premiered will form the basis of the soundtrack for Hulse’s next feature film.

These special performances will include Super 8mm film projections shot on location along the route of Duthie’s original trip.

The concerts will also celebrate the launch of the album ‘Dummy Jim’ which is released on Daniel Padden & Matt Hulse’s new label Unshaped Led.

Copies will be available at the concerts for just £10, with proceeds going towards the making of the film. You can also purchase the album securely online at Dummy Jim’s shop.

Additionally, Sokobauno Puppet Theatre have created a shadow peep box inspired by Dummy Jim’s story and this will be on show before, during and after the concerts.

CONCERT DETAILS

Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary St, Edinburgh
Friday 13th November, 1900h, Admission Free, Numbers Limited

Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 113-117 Trongate, Glasgow
Saturday 14th November, 1900h, By Donation, Numbers Limited

Peacock Visual Arts, 21 Castle St, Aberdeen
Sunday 15th November, 2000h, £6 / £8, 01224 641122

The concert at Dovecot Studios rounds off an evening which sees the launch & private views of two new shows, both of which you are warmly invited to attend.

Follow A Thread is an exhibition of contemporary responses to the art of tapestry including work by Jo Barker, Sarah Brennan, Linda Green, Anna Ray and includes a film projection by Matt Hulse, created in collaboration with the Dovecot weavers.

Image/Craft is an exhibition exploring the relationship between craft and photography, including work by (amongst many others) Shannon Tofts, Clare Twomey, Edmund de Waal & Sussie Ahlburg.

The concert at the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall has a strict dress code which is ARCTIC. Wrap up warm, the more extravagantly the better. Snow shoes are expected.

Whilst the ARCTIC dress code has a thematic connection, it also has a practical purpose, for the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall is freezing cold in mid November. Hot chocolate will be available, along with frozen ukuleles.

If you’re short of winter garb, then head along to the Panopticon shops which you’ll find at 45 & 49 High Street, Glasgow (closed Mondays).

At the Aberdeen concert, welcome support will come in the form of Matricarians, duo Alan Davidson and Susan Matthew who create improvised musical pieces incorporating traditional lyrics from the folksongs of North East Scotland.

The winners will be announced at the Jodi Awards event on 2 December 2009 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (6.00-8.30 pm). The awards will be presented by Martha Lane Fox, the UK government’s Digital Inclusion Champion.

Update: the winner in this category was artist Sally Booth. Congratulations from the Dummy Jim team.

Martha Lane Fox

Named in memory of Jodi Mattes (1973-2001), who worked at the British Museum and RNIB, a tireless champion of equal access to culture for disabled people, the awards were first given in 2003 to museums, libraries and archives.

‘The Jodi Awards celebrate practice that inspires locally, nationally or internationally,’ said Matthew Cock, Chair of the Jodi Mattes Trust and Head of Web at the British Museum.

‘We welcome nominations from all kinds of projects, small and big, low-tech and hi-tech and for small and large audiences. What counts is the value of your project and the quality of its engagement with disabled people. In an age when digital technology is at the forefront of society, it is vital that accessibility is central to our work in the cultural and creative sectors.’

The award in

Once the switch over was done, Vicky from Make Hay got in touch, saying:

I just wanted to send you a quick message. I was just looking at our latest Green Hosting clients’ sites ready to update our portfolio & in doing so re-visited dummyjim.com.

I’ve just lost about an hour of work being mesmerised by the beautiful illustrations, animation & film footage on the website. It’s so unique & imaginative & I’m really happy that you chose our service to host it.

Wishing you all the best with everything & I look forward to hearing how the film progresses.

That certainly puts a spring in our step & oils the chains.

The £1500 main prize went to Rich Curtis, from Alabama, USA, who is from the same Shoals area where Dr Helen Keller was born.

Sight Unseen

His work titled Sight Unseen comprises 20 textured paintings on paper.

Dummy Jim received a Highly Commended Award – £200 plus the ‘E.D.G.D. Fairfull-Smith’ Award & keepsake.

‘It has been a great honour to have the Dummy Jim website included in such a prestigious show as the Helen Keller International Award’ said Matt Hulse, director of the Dummy Jim project.

‘James Duthie, on whose story Dummy Jim is based, shared with Helen a genuinely optimistic, determined spirit & a firm faith in the power of knowledge & education to transform lives. Like her, James was also a great communicator & lover of the natural world.’

‘Sadly James was killed in a road accident back in 1965, but I have no doubt at all that he would have been intrigued by & proud of his connection to this show.’

‘On a personal level, I vividly remember reading about Helen Keller during my childhood. Recently I rediscovered her book ‘The Story of My Life’ & was struck by how deep an impression it must have made upon me back then & how she continues to influence my work to this day.’

Helen Keller

Sense Scotland became trustees of this fund in 1989, transforming it from an annual essay competition, into the Helen Keller International Award, a multi-media art competition open to professional and non-professional artists.

Now coordinated biannually, the Award attracts an ever-increasing number of entries from artists across the world.

The Dummy Jim website has been shortlisted for the prestigious award. The winner and runners-up will be announced at an event at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 18th April at 2pm.

The 8th Helen Keller International Award Exhibition is at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. It opens on Saturday 4th April at 2pm and runs until 4th May 2009.

Sleep Furiously
Dir. Gideon Koppel
UK 2008, 94 mins

A flock of sheep are slowly herded along a hillside. A bale of hay gets wrapped in black plastic. A dog watches a tractor disappear in the distance. A choir practice. A mobile library. This documentary portrait of a Welsh farming community offers only scraps of narrative to grab onto, but if you can adjust to its pace you may well find it a uniquely satisfying experience. Gideon Koppel earns his living as a photographer and the images are beautiful, as is the music by Aphex Twin. Bubbling under you can also sense a horror at what we might be losing as thousands of villages like this one disappear.

Showing with God Gives Nuts But He Does Not Crack Them (dir: Matt Hulse) – a taster for feature Dummy Jim, about a profoundly deaf Scotsman who cycled to the Arctic Circle.

Artist Deirdre Nelson will present ‘Knitting Fog’, an exhibition she created during a three month residency on Uist.

The team will highlight existing connections between the two works and explore how they plan to collaborate in the future.

This is a BSL interpreted event with interpreter Jo Ross.

The event, which is part of Matt Hulse’s FilmCraft Weekend, will take place at Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh at 7pm on Sunday 1st February.