Music, Art And Science Collide In An Explosive Celebration Of Women’s Creativity

Featuring. Lauren Laverne, Anna Meredith, Jane Weaver, Stealing Sheep, Haiku Salut and many more The Hexagon Experiment – presented by Brighter Sound and the National Graphene Institute at The University of Manchester – is a six-part series of ‘Friday night experiments’ featuring live music, conversations and original commissions from pioneering women at the forefront of music, art and science.

Inspired by the creativity that led to the discovery of the Nobel-Prize winning ‘wonder material’ graphene, The Hexagon Experiment brings together the North’s most exciting musicians and scientists for six free events – from music made by robots to a spectacular tribute to an unsung heroine. Each event will consist of a live performance and an in-conversation between women at the cutting edge of science and the creative arts.

The Hexagon Experiment takes inspiration from The University of Manchester’s ‘Friday night experiments’, after-hours lab sessions in which Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov would test out their less conventional ideas. One particular Friday night in 2004 led them to a scientific breakthrough – isolating graphene for the very first time. In that spirit these Friday night events at the Great Exhibition of the North will bring together musicians, artists and scientists in a celebration of creative discovery, and provide a vehicle for discourse on gender equality in their respective fields.

The Hexagon Experiment forms part of Brighter Sound’s ‘Both Sides Now’ campaign for gender equality in the music industry.

Tickets are free and are available here

The Hexagon Experiment in full:

#1: Sounds Of The Cosmos Fri 3 Aug / 6-9pm Cluny 2, Newcastle Cosmic psych artist Jane Weaver opens The Hexagon Experiment with an exclusive performance in an intimate setting – delving deeper into the science of the stars that have inspired her latest album ‘Modern Kosmology’ and the 2014 critically acclaimed ‘The Silver Globe’.

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#2: We Are The Robots Fri 10 Aug / 6-9pm Centre for Life, Newcastle Self-playing instruments take centre stage as electronic dream-pop trio Haiku Salut explore creativity in the age of robotics and artificial intelligence. In collaboration with the Robot Orchestra. Includes free entry to Robots: Then And Now (normally £15).

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#3: Adventures in Flatland Fri 17 Aug / 6-9pm Great North Museum, Newcastle Lauren Laverne is joined by composer Sara Lowes (The Earlies) and visual artist Mary Griffiths to discuss their experiments with music, art and science. Followed by a performance of Lowes’ graphene-inspired composition, and the unveiling of new graphene art by Griffiths.

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#4: Making Waves Fri 24 Aug / 6-9pm Sage Gateshead An audio adventure created by the next generation of young female composers, sound artists and musical innovators, featuring cutting-edge music tech and found sounds. Led by four of the North’s most exciting electronic artists (Afrodeutsche, Caro C, Mandy Wigby, Vicky Clarke).

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#5: Wow Machine Fri 31 Aug / 6-9pm Boiler Shop, Newcastle Liverpool art-pop trio Stealing Sheep present a theatrical-musical-dance-art spectacular, in tribute to the electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire. With technical wizardry from experimental performance producers The Kazimier. Expect a hexagonal stage, sci-fi sunglasses and sparkly leotards.

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#6: Works in Progress Fri 7 Sep / 6-9pm Cobalt, Newcastle Genre-defying composer, producer and performer Anna Meredith explores the common language between musical and scientific composition in brand new work created with some of the best emerging female artists from the North East. In partnership with Generator.