Matthew Herbert is due to bring the world premier of his One Pig project to London’s Royal Opera House on 2nd September, as part of the Deloitte Ignite 2011 Festival.
One Pig is Herbert’s upcoming new album, released on 10th October and built entirely from samples of a single pig, all the way from the moment of birth to the moment it leaves the plate. It’s described, rather sweetly, as "an elegy to an otherwise-anonymous farm animal’s life and raises startling questions about humanity’s complex and contradictory relationship with these often-maligned and misunderstood creatures." [Is this specifically designed to wind up Morrissey? – ED]
It’s part of Herbert’s ongoing musical interest in the politics of food, and our relationship with what we eat – he constructed 2005’s Plat Du Jour with samples of food from growth to eating (and beyond).
As ever with Herbert, it’s also served with a healthy dollop of humour – the performance in September, as well as performing music from the album, will feature a chef cooking live on stage. Pork, presumably.
It’s also attracted its fair share of controversy – before a single note was recorded, PETA condemned the project as cruelty for the purpose of ‘entertainment’.
