Eileen Simpson and Ben White (both born 1977) are British artists who frequently collaborate. Together, they are known for their work with
copyright issues, audio and
experimental film.
Work
Simpson and White were both born in 1977, in Manchester. Simpson has a BA in Fine Art from
Goldsmiths, London, and an MA in Film and Visual Media from
Birkbeck, University of London
, mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck.
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £4.3 m (2014)
, budget = £10 ...
.
With White, Simpson initiated the Open Music Archive, which is a platform for collecting and digitizing audio recordings which are no longer copyrighted.
In 2008, Simpson and White toured the UK to advocate for the establishment of a country-wide "
creative commons
Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
" for artists' use. They have primarily focused their work on recorded audio and copyright issues,
and played small snippets of out of copyright songs from the early 1960s and before, including at their
British Art Show 8 exhibition in
Leeds.
''Struggle in Jerash'' (2009) is a work of experimental film that uses footage from ''Struggle in Jerash'' (1957) along with meta-commentary to create "a social situation, a collective discussion, a participatory event," according to ''
Art Monthly.'' The film was praised by ''Discourse'' for the way that it demonstrates "the dangers of increasingly aggressive copyright legislation."
The experimental film uses a copyright-free, digitized version of a
VHS copy of the original, along with the commentary of twelve
Jordanians watching the film.
Simpson and White's ''The Brilliant and Dark'' (2010) explores themes of inter-generational connectedness and is based on the score of an
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
.
Their work ''Auditory Learning'' was featured in
British Art Show 8. The ''Auditory Learning'' EP was released on the occasion of the British Art Show 8 opening in Edinburgh on 12 February 2016. The work was a collaboration between the artists and individuals from a local youth group, using sounds to "trigger archival audio fragments and beats from out-of-copyright vinyl records from 1962."
In 2016, the artists created a soundscape made up of recordings of sounds of audiences of
Modern Art Oxford from the last 50 years.
References
External links
Open Music ArchiveEileen Simpson and Ben White, Auditory Learning (2015) at BAS8(video)
Ben White: Auditory Learning(video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Eileen
British contemporary artists
Living people
British women artists
Year of birth missing (living people)