“A boldly freewheeling art and film festival - something of a call to arms.” The Guardian. Following its hugely successful Liverpool launch in September 2009, the Abandon Normal Devices (AND) festival of new cinema and digital culture relocates to Blackburn this spring, before moving on to Manchester in October this year.

Expect playful and radical digital interventions across the North West’s stunning landscape, as a host of artists, scientists and designers map the region and challenge our relationships with nature and technology, body and the economy, work and play. From nano-science ice cream to a light installation you control  AND creates a space where artists offer striking new perspectives, and visitors can interact with their ideas. It’s a festival that questions the normal, and champions the different.

The Cloud Project by Zoe Papadopoulou and Catherine Kramer 
Thurs 8 - Sat 10 April Blackburn  – see website for times and locations  

A delicious sensory art and science experiment. Cat and Zoe will be serving nano ice cream from a van touring the area, creating strawberry flavoured clouds, and exploring developments in nanotechnology – with results that are good enough to eat. Developments in nanotechnology and planetary-scale engineering point to new possibilities to conform the global environment to our needs. These advances, combined with a dream to make cloud snow ice cream, have inspired a series of experiments that look at ways to alter the composition of clouds to make new and delicious sensory experiences. Join us to to experience and imagine emerging scientific developments in a fun environment. Developed in partnership with Peter Scott Gallery and Experimentality, Lancaster University  See: www.thecloudproject.co.uk

Strange Attractors - The Anatomy of Dr Tulp by KMA
Fri 9 – Sat 10 April: After dark
King William Street, Blackburn

A playful interactive light installation exploring how we use our bodies to move and communicate in a material world.  When people enter the space they become active participants, as magnetic bodies themselves, animating and redistributing the flow of energy within the system.

Interface Amnesty by Sound Network & guest artists
Sat 10 April: 12 - 5pm 
POP shop, Blackburn

A hands on, show and tell event of self-made and hacked devices for making media art. Like a creative technology car boot, Interface Amnesty represents an emerging and developing sector of artists, hobbyists and makers in the UK experimenting with electronics and technology. Meet the makers and play!

MP3 Experiment by Improv Everywhere
Sat 10 April: Starts at 2pm
King William Street, Blackburn

Improv Everywhere based in New York cause scenes of chaos and joy in public spaces around the world.  Join us in Blackburn as we reclaim the streets in a flashmob spectacle.

Download the mp3 file from 5 April

http://tinyurl.com/mp3blackburn

Then synchronise your watches and head out to King William Street in front of the Town Hall. At the right time press play on your Mp3 device and carry out the instructions coming through your headphones. Then join the fun as everyone else tries to work out what’s going on……

AND Salon – Nanoscaled                                                                 
Sat 10 April: 6pm – 8pm
HaworthArtGallery, Accrington

AND invites the Cloud Project to discuss the implications of nanotechnology.  How will the alteration of physical matter via nanotechnology change how and what we consume. Is our disordered eating connected to our planet’s broader economic crisis?  Join us for stimulating debate and company plus food and drink.

Booking in advance is advised: http://nanoscaledsalon.eventbrite.com/

AND Closing Party / 44 Promotions present Plaid
Sat 10 April: 8pm til late
41 King Street, Blackburn

Join us for the grand finale as we celebrate an action packed festival with Plaid (Warp Records). The British electronic duo Andy Turner and Ed Handley will be performing a unique live AV set to help AND close with an electronic bang!

Tickets £7: http://www.skiddle.com/events/11362078/

Check out: www.andfestival.co.uk for more details.