Tone Festival 2014 - sound and light

The Tone festival has been playing in Medway over this weekend. It has moments of beauty, and I can see that a lot of time and care and attention has gone into creating the concepts in many of the pieces.

Frode Halti plays while Morgan O'Hara sketches
Image credit: SM Jenkin

Too Prolix, the performance tour of Chatham Dockyard, was an intriguing illumination into a little-report piece of history. Bolshy dockyard workers petitioning the navy board for better treatment. There was a splendid Salon held on the tennis lawn this evening, with maritime-themed food and drink and music.

The other pieces were well thought out and clever, with one example of this being atonal music being accompanied by an artist sketching the movements of the musicians hands.

However, I felt disengaged. I can appreciate high-concept art, but it felt a little samey. This festival has high aims, but needs a little more variety in the execution of its ideas and more engagement with the audience.

I haven't explored the free art yet in the other locations yet, and there is a lot to see. If nothing else, the festival has been ambitious in showcasing art in multiple locations.