Cyril Seaton’s Cycle Roots resplendent in their cricket whites, emblazoned with dadaist texts, knotted hankies on their heads are Simon Withers, Chris Lewis-Jones and Gareth Jordan.

Rat-a-tat-tat! was a site-specific live art performance (part of ‘exploring beauty’ Festival) inspired by the life of Cyril Seaton: the sexy surrealist from naughty Nottingham.

The event began at lunch time on Friday 23rd May when the three cycled from Ripley (where Seaton visited his first Sweet Heart, Jessie Lawrence), along the route of the Ripley Rattler (tram) to Basford (where he went to school), on through Sherwood Rise (where he was born), past Oldknows factory (where he worked as a lace pattern designer) and finally to the Old Police Station, in which he was incarcerated for one night following a brawl in a Narrow Marsh pub, just two days before he joined the Sherwood Foresters and World War 1.

There, before the sweat had dried on their foreheads, the Roots launched into a fusion of post folk mayhem, with projections and live/interactive VJ-ing.

Rat-a-tat-tat! The title refers to the sound of the gunfire that resulted in Seaton’s shell shock, certainly, but also to the sound of the heavy, lion’s head door knocker at the Station, the ‘rat-a-tat-tatting’ of which would keep late night revelers entertained and desk sergeants awake in the wee small hours of Saturday nights and Sunday mornings!

Cyril Seaton’s Cycle Roots, Oldknows Studio, Saint Anns Hill Rd, Nottingham NG3 4GP