Gary Stewart: Creative Labs

Orleans House Gallery invites you for a series of creative labs focused on sound, space, and the environment led by artist Gary Stewart. These hands-on performances and activations blend theory and practice, bringing together the best of creative media and technical production, all shaped by culture and history. 
 
Through experimental processes, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with important aspects of sound and art in innovative ways. 
 
Our open-door labs are designed to be inclusive spaces where everyone is welcome. Come along, share in the experience, and connect with the diverse voices and stories within our community. Whether you’re an artist or a curious visitor, you’ll find a space that feels like home.

 

Upcoming Gallery Lates with Gary Stewart: 

11 December 2024: Sonic Laboratory with Ben Selig 

Join us for a Creative Laboratory about land, memory and Dub with artists Gary Stewart and Ben Selig. The event includes a representation and conversation about Ben Selig’s recent work, Sound Clash. 

Sound Clash uses soundscapes to encourage active listening, bridging East London and Jamaica. It combines archival recordings and interviews via Jamaican sonic practices to consider our relationship to land, gentrification and dislocation. At Orleans House Gallery, Sound Clash finds parallels with Gary Stewart’s exhibition, A Ripple in Time. 

Sound Clash is an on-going collaboration between Ben Selig and filmmaker Hannah Oliver, featuring contributions from Gary Stewart. The work was first presented at Frieze London this year.  

 

About Ben Selig  

Ben Swaby Selig is a London-based curator, AI artist and sound artist. Ben is the 2022 Frieze x Deutsche Bank ‘Emerging Curators’ Fellow with V&A East. Ben holds a master’s degree in Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (MEng) from the University of Bath. He exhibited his thesis as part of London Design Festival 2022, and went on to work at 180 Studios prior to joining the V&A East. 

 

Activities for the day 

10am–1pm – Activation with the artist, meet the artist in the gallery 

2pm–5pm – Sonic Lab, meet the artist in the gallery and watch him at work 

6pm–9pm – Discussion with Gary Stewart and Ben Selig, followed by late opening hours for A Ripple in Time 

The gallery is open from 10am to 5pm with free entry. Book tickets for the late event on 11 December, 6 – 9pm.

 

15 January 2025: Sonic Laboratory with Demigosh by Ade Balogun 

Creative Laboratory with Demigosh, the Irish-Nigerian vocalist & performance artist and a collaborator on Gary’s show, connecting to his Yoruba ancestors & Yoruba deities. More information soon. 

RSVP for the 15 January here. 

 

19 February 2025: Let’s Get Creative with Dubmorphology and Sonic Laboratory with Dubmorphology, Shamica Ruddock and Edie Bailey   

Let’s Get Creative interactive workshop for families and Sonic Laboratory with Dubmorphology, Shamica Ruddock and Edie Bailey. More information soon. 

 

Stay tuned for more information on the Creative Labs, as this page will be updated with new events and activities. 

These series of events are part of A Ripple in Time exhibition, open at Orleans House Gallery until 23 February 2025. The exhibition is the outcome of Gary Stewart’s research into the Richmond Borough Art Collection which began in February 2024.   

Learn more about the Ripple in Time exhibition. 

 

Previous Creative Labs 

30 October: Sonic Laboratory with Gary Stewart
Gary Stewart will be offering a special preview of his Quantum Entanglement Performance. He will later present it at the Stuart Hall: Positions and Trajectories conference, which takes place on 01 November 2024 at Birmingham University.  

On this interactive performance and discussion, Gary creatively mixes two recordings of the late, renowned cultural theorist Stuart Hall, placing him in conversation with himself and the audience. One recording features Hall as a young man, early in his career, while the other captures him later in life as a respected academic addressing a conference. 

Gary’s work draws inspiration from the concept of retro-causality in quantum physics—the idea that the future can influence the present, and the present can influence the past. Through this lens, the performance explores the complex ways time, history, and ideas interact.