Platform unveil Outskirts programme for 2018

The Easterhouse arts hub announces details of this year's Outskirts festival, including new music from Golden Teacher's Oliver Pitt and a host of Glasgow International art tie-ins

Article by Peter Simpson | 16 Mar 2018

Platform's annual Outskirts festival returns this April, with a typically diverse and intriguing mix of music, literature, art, theatre and dance. The latest edition of Platform's Easterhouse Conversations project brings together sound artist Barry Burns of experimental radio station Radiophrenia and Oliver Pitt of Glasgow party-starters Golden Teacher for a unique new piece created using material recorded solely within Platform. 

The finished product promises to be "a fragmented and hallucinatory sound portrait combining the sounds of the building with the stories of those who use it" – previous editions of Easterhouse Conversations have brought together Tuff Love's Suse Bear and Steev Livingstone of Errors, as well as James Graham of The Twilight Sad and Kathryn Joseph for what would eventually become their Out Lines project.

There's also a set from multi-instrumental folk musician Brigid Mae Power, and a collaboration between KOR! Records – a Glasgow indie label who produce and release music by young people with additional support needs – and DIY punk trio Breakfast Muff. The band will work alongside KOR! Records artists to encourage ways in which the musicians can crossover with one another's work.

Another highlight comes in the form of readings from a pair of iconoclastic Scottish writers, James Kelman and Tom Leonard. Their session will be introduced by Joey Simons, who has been working with Platform on a play and publication uncovering Easterhouse’s radical past and has been researching the work of Kelman and Leonard contemporary (and long-term Easterhouse resident) Freddie Anderson.

Art and Film

The art strand of the Outskirts programme spotlights the venue's Glasgow International exhibitions and projects. Glasgow art collective Love Unlimited will take over The Bridge swimming pool at Platform for a Social Event bringing together a variety of artworks and performances to be viewed from within the water. Jessica Ramm presents new work in Personal Structures, a mixture of sculpture and performance that looks at the aesthetics and politics of architecture, and Janie Nicol and Ailie Rutherford will present IN KIND, their collaborative research project which will investigate the unpaid work, favours and volunteering that goes into making an event like Glasgow International happen.

Another GI project comes from Henry Coombes, the GSA alumni who represented Scotland in the 2007 Venice Biennale. Coombes will present a brand new piece for Outskirts; Love and Lithium combines performance, spoken word, sound and moving image, and will receive its premiere the day after the main festival (Sun 29 Apr, 2pm).

The art programme also features Analogue, Laurie Brown's sound installation exploring the artist's relationship with his tape collection; an immersive new audio piece from Birthe Jorgensen and Sogol Mabadi; and Art Scrubber, a pop-up performance/intervention from artist Kate Clayton that will take place across the venue. 

Theatre and Dance

In terms of theatre, Michael John McCarthy presents his Edinburgh Fringe hit Turntable, exploring the importance of music via the contents of McCarthy's record box. There's also a scratch performance of Unlikely Duets, a new dance theatre project from Sarah Hopfinger bringing together a range of unusual pairings including a choreographer and footballer, and a performer with a policewoman. Theatre incubator Company of Wolves present Unbecoming, a solo performance combining elements of song and movement, devised and performed by Anna Porubcansky.


Outskirts 2018 takes place at Platform, Easterhouse on 28 Apr from 3.30pm; tickets £10 (£7.50), under 16s free, return transport from Mono in central Glasgow available for £5 from Mono in person or email info@platform-online.co.uk

http://platform-online.co.uk