Rhyme and Reason

Simon Worthington sings the highlights,Totally Out Of Tune

I'm outside the new HTBA centre and Lone Twin are performing Ghost Dance. From 9am to 9pm this blindfolded pair of men, dressed as cowboys, perform a gruelling methodical step dance in a cobbled courtyard. Deprived of sight, the leather-chapped men use the sound of their hands slapping their chaps to map out the space and locate each other. Slowly but surely they circle around, never touching the walls or each other.

>> Charlemagne Palestine. Photos: iD.8 Photography

At the Ferens Art Gallery Hayley Newman has started her performance Score for 10's 12lbs. Random objects – shoes, teapots, string, a paper plate and pumpkin – lie scattered on the floor. At the back of the room a laptop on a desk defines a line of symmetry. Two one meter-square digital weighing machines are positioned on either side of it. Newman is cavorting around the room gathering the objects and placing them on the scales, triggering a parallel world of sound shadows. Sometimes the cued sounds name objects; other times it's simply music or noise. There is a rhyme for every reason.

Elsewhere in the Ferens, Charlemagne Palestine entirely transforms his hallowed but ever so slightly stodgy museum corner. Playing various electronic instruments from a piano which is surrounded by an army of fluffy toys and bright fabrics, his esoteric music infuses the gallery. Slowly, the audience also slumps into a rag bag heap on the gallery floor.

>> Lone Twin, Ghost Dance. Photos: iD.8 Photography

After having your cultural memory chip reconfigured by Lone Twin, you are now ready to have it slowly drained. Charlemagne's performance makes you feel a bit like HAL in 2001: Dave is removing your chips and you start singing “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do…”

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Simon Worthington<simonATmetamute.com>