SARAH MAYHEW makes a date in her diary for a day of art that raises issues as artists, composers, activists and academics join forces for a symposium and audio-visual installation exploring the hot topic of sustainability.

So what is art? A question that most people find themselves asking at some point, and a question that few dare to answer.

It’s a tough one to define given the obscure shapes and sizes that art presents itself in.

However, coming to Oxford’s Holywell Music Room on Saturday, November 7, is a fine example of what art can be.

Composer (and Oxford Brookes reader/researcher/lecturer/music man extraordinaire) Paul Whitty and visual artist Anna Best have joined forces to create an audio-visual experiential installation about sustainability in the city, entitled Vauxhall Pleasure.

In her book, Open Space: Art in the Public Realm in London 1995-2005, Jemima Montagu commented on Vauxhall Pleasure: “Both socio-political protest and live art and music performance, this project captures the richly layered, interdisciplinary and ultimately uncategorisable nature of art in the public realm today.”

Mmm... in short, this is exciting stuff!

Vauxhall Pleasure is a cacophony of sounds, sights and experiences. Originally commissioned by Tate Modern, Vauxhall Pleasure has since been developed into a chamber ensemble performance and installation of surround sound and visuals that will take place in the historic Holywell Music Room.

Nestled behind some of Oxford’s most bustling thoroughfares the Holywell Music Room opened its doors to the public for the first time in 1748 making it the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe, a curious setting for a performance so steeped in history, yet so overtly cutting edge in it’s approach. There’s no doubt that this celebrated audio-visual spectacle will be a sight for sore eyes for the recently refurbished venue famed for its excellent acoustics, and charming sensory escape.

This is not the first time Whitty’s work has been found in funny spaces and places.

Previous installation locations include a Mecca bingo hall, a hospital in Cambridge, and the freezer compartment of a fridge in Romford to name but a few.

Whitty is particularly keen to be performing Vauxhall Pleasure, a transformation and rearrangement of the songs of 18th century composer Thomas Arne and contemporary to Handel who is among the many famous composers and musicians to have appeared at the Holywell Music Room.

Interestingly, Thomas Arne was once the composer in residence at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens – a site that was redeveloped for housing in 1859, where Anna Best is now resident, and from which this performance takes its name.

Vauxhall Pleasure explores the relationship between political protest and entertainment, traffic and pedestrians, pollution, breathing and song. The work raises important issues surrounding sustainable transport, planning and pollution, and will be accompanied by a symposium on the afternoon of November 7, taking place at the The Oxford University Centre for the Environment.

No dull, staid symposium, this one unites academics, authors, artists and activists to discuss their work and issues surrounding sustainable transport. One guest speaker will be colourful character The Roadwitch (aka Oxford based artist/activist Ted Dewan).

The Roadwitch believes imagination and good design can create shared spaces more like publicly accessible rooms and less like soulless, unsociable corridors destined for cars to drive down and little else.

Another speaker is environmental and indigenous rights academic and author George Marshall, who has won nine awards for his video documentary work who is based at the Climate Outreach and Information Network in East Oxford.

Other speakers include sustainable development and transport planning specialist, Peter Headicar, and Tim Jones, a lecturer and researcher in transport planning.

In short, November 7 is going to be an exciting day for Oxford as artists, composers, activists and academics unite to explore socio-political subject matter in a creative environment. For anyone who’s ever wondered what art can be, and where artists take their inspiration from, Vauxhall Pleasure provides the perfect opportunity to find out.

This is art inspired by matters that immediately affect you.

* Vauxhall Pleasure Symposium, OUCE, University of Oxford, Hinshelwood Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY. Saturday, November 7, 2–6pm.

Free of charge, booking essential, call info@ocmevents.org 01865 488369 * OCM promotes high quality new music for a wide range of local and national audiences by staging and promoting performances, commissioning new work, and by deepening understanding and appreciation of musical cultures from within the UK and worldwide.

* Oxford Contemporary Music, Oxford Brookes University, Richard Hamilton Building, Headington Campus, Oxford, OX3 0BP. 01865 488369, info@ocmevents.org