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The Nihilists

The Nihilists - Wind TurbinesThe Nihilists was a one day visual art event, located on the Sugar Loaf mountain near Abergavenny, with a sound performance by Team Sports.

Dusk (8-10pm), Saturday 16th July 2011

Venue: Sugar Loaf, Abergavenny (starting from Mynyndd Llanwenarth Car Park, Grid Ref: SO268167)

The Nihilists is a series of outdoor installations which generate electricity in order to illuminate their futility.

The event comprised two new works:

  • a group of handmade wind turbines which live on a hill. At dusk the electricity generated by the turbines illuminates a sign. The message pulses as the wind picks up.
  • in a gully nearby a solitary water turbine straddles a stream. The turbine powers a sign. The sign is both a homage to Malcolm Mclaren and a flow guage - a visual display of the stream’s rate of flow.

Team Sports (Matthew Lovett, Jimmy Ottley & Ian Watson) is a sound performance that explores the relationship between a musician and their surroundings. Using the physical environment as a musical score, the group respond to sounds, visual stimuli, and other environmental occurrences to create a piece that engages with all aspects of the sound continuum. For information about Team Sports visit: http://matthewlovett.wordpress.com/

This event was made possible with the generous support of The National Trust. The project has been made possible with the support of Powys County Council’s Chance to Create Scheme.

Download the Invite

Video and Photographic documentation by Nic Finch. The video below comprises Team Sports performance, and footage of the water turbine piece.

More about The Nihilists

Directions to The Nihilists

Download a map of the route Directions: By train and walking The Sugar Loaf is about 3 miles from Abergavenny train station. The most direct route from the train station is directly through the town centre (via Cross Street, then Frogmore Street). Opposite Tesco, cross the main road and walk up Pen Y Pound, then onto Hill Road. Turn left onto Chain Road, then Pentre Road. Follow this road up a long, steep hill for a mile or so After a cattle grid the road turns sharp left at the top of the hill Keep right then follow the road onto the open common Stay on the road until you reach the National Trust car park (not the unofficial one, the official one with a stone trig point ki [...] Read more about Directions to The Nihilists

Wood Chippings

This project focuses on the development of simple electronic devices, micro power generation and the arduino micro controller. It has involved the organisation of Tinker It's first Beginners Arduino Workshop which was kindly hosted by Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff in February 2010. I have also been working closely with open hardware and sustainable power experts Suneil Tagore and Trystan Lea from Open Sustainable Technologies and the Open Energy Monitor project. Trystan and Suneil have been invaluable to the project, sharing their knowledge about micro energy generation and advising on everything from circuit diagram interpretation to charge control for solar power and cut in speed [...] Read more about Wood Chippings