This is the debut of a pre-recorded reel to reel performance by Rachael Finney for These Lancashire Women Are Witches In Politics, followed by a conversation with artists Helen Mather and Anna FC Smith. This mesmerising work is in part developed from Finney’s PHD research into listening to, and operating in the background; things heard on the edge of attention. In conversation, the artists then draw out the links between Finney’s practice and the project These Lancashire Women Are Witches In Politics, considering ideas of the dissenting voice, language, myth and clandestine space. At the end there will be a live Q&A with the audience to give the opportunity to share your thoughts and questions.

Rachael Finney’s work frequently deals with the relationship between listening, voice and the body. Working across sound, video, installation and performance her work investigates the material qualities of the voice, often dissecting it and dividing it from language in order to interrogate it as a new acoustic object. Her work makes extensive use of reel-to-reel tape whereby she uses players to both process and present her work. Finney’s work has been utilised for both exhibitions and recorded media.

This interest in sound and specifically voice originates from her background in DIY music where she continues to release work under the moniker R Elizabeth. She has releases on Nightschool, Where To Now and Home Normal. Previous releases include Cazenove, Comfortable on a Tightrope, M'Lady's, Savoury Days and Sex is Disgusting. Rachael Finney is a tutor at the Royal College of Art and currently undertaking doctoral research on voice, reproduction and labour in the department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmith College, London.

Follow Rachael on Instagram and Twitter (both @r_____elizabeth) and visit her website here.

This event is part of the project These Lancashire Women are Witches In Politics at The Turnpike, Leigh.

(Image below: Rachael Finney)

These Lancashire Women Are Witches In Politics.

This collaborative project and interactive residency by Helen Mather and Anna FC Smith takes its initial inspiration from the history of the Leigh Female Reformers of 1819* and the monstrous representations of them in the media of the time. Drawing on this symbolism and elements of the reformer’s activities, the artists are researching and developing work with the Leigh community which weaves a new empowering language based on a shared history of place, myth, power and witchcraft.

Transforming The Turnpike into an enchanted forest ripe for conspiracy, the artists will be running regular workshops which connect people with their history through materials and making. This flexible space will engender citizenry, evolving through participants interaction and creation. A programme of talks, performances and a history walk further explore the sites and history of the reformers and the spectral power in an enfranchised populace.

(Image below: Anna FC Smith and Helen Mather by the obelisk outside The Turnpike)