Mark Anderson is a visual sound artist, and pyrotechnician, working almost exclusively outside.
He makes compelling site specific temporary installations and performances, often spectacular, at other times subtle and intimate, and, on occasion, all these things at the same time. His installations and performances are moving investigations into phenomena and perception that touch, surprise and sometimes amuse audiences both young and old.
Drawing inspiration from the meeting point between the natural, industrial, and technological world, his work uses light and sound to explore and create, often with a childlike playfulness, a fusion of these worlds, defining space with sound and creating illusion in outdoor spaces.
His many works in Power Plant, For the Birds and in Furious Folly create immersive visual sound environments, sometimes in sympathy with the surroundings at others almost jarring as another world invades the ‘natural’ environment.
He often works in collaboration with other artists and groups, and has worked often with Anne Bean, Richard Wilson, the late Paul Burwell of the Bow Gamalan, Red Earth, Stans Cafe, Jony Easterby, Kathy Hinde Ansuman Biswas and many others. He was a founder member of the long running but now disbanded collective Blissbody and is the lead artist of the international hit Power Plant.
In 2014-2015 he created Furious Folly, working with producer Simon Chatterton and leading a team of artists the show premiered in Poperinge Belgium in 2015 to wide acclaim. In 2016 with the support of 14-18 NOW the show went to three locations in the UK with huge success, and will be out again in summer of 2018.
In 2022 Mark started making the installtion performance piece Warning Notes, in 2023 working with producer Rosie Strang, and long term collaborative partner Liam Walsh they recieved funding from ACW and toured sites around Wales and to Oxford, where they worked with the popet Selina Nwulu. The show went on to recieve funding from OCM and Without Walls and touring festivals in England in 2024, and will be touring again in 2025.
His work has been shown at prestigious arts festivals in the uk and around the world, including Lumiere (Durham), Edinburgh Festival (British Council Showcase), Sydney Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Ten Days on the Island (Hobart, Tasmania), Wellington Festival, (NZ)Auckland Festival, (NZ) Latitude, Stockton Riverside Festival, Fire In The Mountain and many others.
Mark Anderson is an Oxford Contemporary Music Associate Artist.
