Andy Ingamells, Up Down Left Right

The only instruction given was: ‘Pick up the baton. Conduct the band however you like. They will follow you.’

Responding to the conductor’s gestures and movements, the band created a spontaneous and bespoke piece of music with each conductor which contributed to a score made on the day. The conductors writing the score included primary school children, Salvation Army congregation, musicians with experience of conducting, people with no experience of conducting and a deaf film-maker and artist.

The original 1896 Salvation Army Citadel building (which provided the bricks for Theaster Gates’ Sanctum) was replaced in 2015 by a new Community and Family Centre. To mark this development, Andy Ingamells was commissioned to produce a new public artwork. The artist began his research in the Citadel’s music archive, exploring 100 years of composing and performing. From this initial research and supported by Situations, he developed a proposal for a new score, written through a meeting between the brass band and the public.

About the artist
As an experimental musician and artist, Andy Ingamells explores unusual methods of composition that blur the line between composer and performer. He has triggered performances in over 30 different countries during a single day, read traffic lights as musical notation and invented the game of violin cricket.