Created by International Live Artist, Ant Hampton and Tim Etchells.

The Quiet Volume is a whispered, self-generated and 'automatic' performance for two at a time, exploiting the particular tension common to any library worldwide; a combination of silence and concentration within which different peoples' experiences of reading unfold.

Two audience members / participants sit side-by-side. Taking cues from words both written and whispered they find themselves burrowing an unlikely path through a pile of books. The piece exposes the strange magic at the heart of the reading experience, allowing aspects of it we think of as deeply internal to lean out into the surrounding space, and to leak from one reader's sphere into another's.

Suitable for age 15+.

A Quiet Volume will be hosted at:

The Leeds Library  
Tues 25th Feb - Fri 29th Feb
Various times

Leeds Central Library
Mon 2nd March - Sun 8th March
Various times

Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
Tues 10th March - Sun 13th March
Various times

 The Quiet Volume by Ant Hampton and Tim Etchells. Produced by Katja Timmerberg 

Sound design and edit by Ant Hampton. 

Binaural recordings: TiTo Toblerone

Additional sounds: Sam Britton and Lothar Ohlmeier 

All foreign language versions directed by Ant Hampton. 

Original versions in English and German, plus Spanish, Polish and Dutch versions commissioned and produced by Ciudades Paralelas, an itinerant yet ‘site specific’ performance festival curated by Stefan Kaegi and Lola Arias. 

www.ciudadesparalelas.org

English version:

In coproduction with Vooruit Arts Centre, Belgium

First voice - Ant Hampton

Child’s voice - Seth Etchell