There’s something about being lost in music which seems organic and wonderful, whereas the idea of being lost in technology is more gridded and rational. It’s more disturbing. But it’s when the two come together that I’ve had the most ecstatic experience. Like acid house and that really rigid 303 repetitive bassline. The deeply inauthentic can actually bring true joy. It’s why I make music as well as art, because music is where I’ve experienced that feeling the most. And that’s why I use technology as well.
Mark Leckey quoted in profile by Miranda Sawyer, The Guardian, 2019
Mark Leckey grew up in a working-class family on the outskirts of Liverpool. As a teenager he found a place with the ‘casuals’, a youth subculture that mixed football hooliganism and designer fashion. His practice as an artist often explores the intersections of youth and music cultures and makes use of platforms outside the traditional spheres of the contemporary art world including YouTube.
Leckey was invited by CAST to devise a Music & Video Lab as a one month intensive course, offering young people aged 18 to 25 an opportunity to learn video editing, music production and digital media and be taught by established musicians and producers on equipment unavailable in a domestic setting. The Lab will take place at Auction House in Redruth, led by Mark Leckey and organised by artist and music promoter Liam Jolly. It is supported by CAST as part of our current Arts Council England funded programme of talent development for young people and artists.