SOUNDkitchen presents…. STONEsoup [made in Birmingham]
Ingredients supplied by:
Iain Armstrong
Peter Batchelor
Bobby Bird
Nic Bullen
Martin Clarke
Peter Cusack
Cormac Faulkner
Julien Guillamat
Mark Harris
Shelly Knotts
Francisco Lopez
Annie Mahtani
Ross Millar
Chris Tarren
Stirred-up by Annie Mahtani
STONEsoup is a collective work with contributions from 14 composers, sound artists and video artists. Each artist was asked to contribute up to 5 minutes of material, the only prerequisite being that it was all originally sourced in Birmingham.
The concept is inspired by the traditional Stone Soup folk story, which reads as follows:
Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. The travelers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with just a little bit of carrot to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.