BACKGROUND

Blissbody formed in 1992 after an initial collaboration involving various art/sound performance groups, with the aim that together we could explore our work within a broader framework of ideas and input, enabling us to produce richer more intense work. All the artists involved had been active in performance since the early 1980's.

Since 1992 our work has progressed and diversified, involving many other artists and technicians outside Blissbody's core group of seven. Members of the group also work and collaborate on many other external projects as artists in their own right and have specialist skills ranging from electronics to pyrotechnics.

Blissbody aim to convey thoughts, ideas, moods and desires through multi-media interventions, performances and installations. This involves work in a number of different disciplines - sound sculpture, video, kinetics, pyrotechnics, dance, computer and digital technology and projection. This work is produced on vastly differing scales, dependant on specific locations, ideas and budget constraints, ranging from small intimate works, to those of larger scale, duration and spectacle, always aiming to create a dynamic interaction between the group and its audience. Productions have taken the group into clubs/raves, festivals, arts centres, municipal parks, car parks, galleries, museums, and the streets of Britain and Europe.

A 9-month period of research and development funded by the Arts Council in 1999 led to the creation of a large scale pyrotechnic installation/performance Volatile Manifestations. Despite being let down at the last moment over the venue for its intended premiering in Birmingham, elements of the project have since become successful works in their own right and incorporated into other pieces. Discussions are currently underway for staging the project in its entirety at Tramway, Glasgow where we will hopefully be able to bring all of the elements together as originally envisioned.

Blissbody members collaborated with artist Anne Bean to stage CHARGE of the Light Brigade, a one night large-scale event of 22 installations using light in all its forms, staged in a Wolverhampton park. The event was enthusiastically received by the audience and fellow artists and it is hoped the event will be restaged at another location sometime in the future. Undoubtedly a number of the installations initiated by Blissbody will be used in future works.

As a result of the success of CHARGE Mark Anderson and Blissbody were commissioned in 2001, along with other artists, to produce an event using light and sound in the Forest of Dean over seven nights. The event, Light Shift took the form of 24 installations over a 2 mile route through the forest. Blissbody were responsible for over half of the works, including a large scale performance across the valley, using pyrotechnics and propane gas horns, a computer controlled pyrophone sited in a small lake, and more intimate pieces including the use of high voltage electricity (1800v) to create a crackling tree of energy, and video projection using hidden infra red lighting and cameras. Blissbody were also responsible for lighting the whole route with a combination of specially made LED and paraffin lights. The event attracted large audiences, with 40,000 people visiting over the seven nights.

At the beginning of 2001 Blissbody started investigating, with specialised pick-ups, the sound created by the electromagnetic auras of domestic electronic devices. The resulting new work Humdrum which includes a live video mix, was premiered at the 'In Between Time Festival' organised by the Arnolfini in Bristol. It was well received, and since then has been performed at the 291 Gallery in London, part of Extrasensory: a 3 day festival of sound works, and at the Midland Arts Centre as part of a special double bill with Brian Duffy's Toy Orchestra.

With the arrival of a 'Blissbaby' in 2002 Blissbody took a bit of a rest, though their performances and installations at Buddha Fields and Big Chill festivals were met with great acclaim. An injury to Mark Anderson (which left him unable to walk for months) at the end of 2002 meant that Fire Garden a new commisioned work for Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridge due to be premiered in December was postponed. The Fire Garden finally took place in March 2003.

As part of their strong commitment to producing relevant, site specific work, Blissbody regularly work with the involvement of local communities. Examples include Mall-Contents, Worcester, where local school children were asked to develop symbolic images of landmarks within the area which were then developed into flags for the piece; Forced Growth where Blissbody worked with allotment holders in Birmingham; and Light Shift in the Forest of Dean where Blissbody worked in close collaboration with a team of foresters, local artists and volunteers.

In 1997 Blissbody became a limited company with a co-operative constitution and equal opportunities policy.

Blissbody has received funding and sponsorship from: The Arts Council, West Midlands Arts, Birmingham City Council, A4E Lottery, Worcester City Council, Sony, Midlands Arts Centre - New Work Trust, Bond Gallery, Birmingham Centre for Media Arts, National Heritage Arts Sponsorship Scheme and Gearhouse Audio Visual Services.