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Ode / Ceolfrith 14 (1971)

John Furnival

John Furnival

Title of the single: Ode / Ceolfrith 14
Publisher: Chr. Carrell, Ceolfrith Press, Sunderland
Date: 1971
Medium: Flexi disc17 cm in book
Edition: 600, 50 n. & s.

 

The English artist John Furnival published his audio work Ode on Ceolfrith Records with an original edition of 1000. 600 copies were included in an exhibition catalogue of Furnival's work as Ceolfrith 14, of which 50 were numbered and signed. The aforementioned exhibition was held at the John Laing Art Gallery Newcastle from November 12th to December 11th 1971.


For the recording, Furnival collaborated with the British avant-garde performance group The Gentle Fire and with the performers and musicians Graham Hearn, Hugh Davies, Michael Robinson, Richard Bernas and Stuart Jones. The instrumental music has a very experimental character, whereby the guitar playing and vocals are more reminiscent of traditional country music. The elaborately designed and printed sleeve of the record contains, in addition to the flexi disc, a booklet and 15 illustrations of various shapes and sizes. One of which contains a poem jointly written by Ian Hamilton Finlay and Furnival, which goes into the absurd.

PS