CONCERT TWO, SYDNEY
The second Liquid Architecture concert once again demonstrated thoughtful and eclectic programming by Sydney directors Shannon O’Neill and Jennifer Teo. Performances included motion sensor operated electronic music by Somaya Langley as well as a spectacular sculptural installation by Plump (Dave Brown, Marc Rogerson and Philip Samartzis). Plump's sculpture was played as an instrument by Brown, operated with light by Rogerson and immersed in a surround sound landscape by Philip Samartzis to create an energised and highly physical presence. At the concert too was a harmonically rich acoustic harmonium and vibraphone performance by Chris Abrahams and Kraig Grady, and finally the beautifully delicate and considered listening experience of Asmus Tietchens.
The timbres produced by Chris Abrahams and Kraig Grady coalesced wonderfully. Grady’s re-tuned vibraphone rang and reverberated throughout the space as it was skillfully struck by the artist. The lush drones created by Abrahams’s harmonium filled the room and intertwined with Grady’s sounds to create beautiful and complex harmonics. As the aesthetic experience evolved with the sounds’ acoustic responses to the room, so too did the performers’ reactions to the sound, masterfully shaping the work into a composition where a sense of time was lost.
German artist Asmus Tietchens drew upon a simple and delicate palette of electronic sounds, from slight tactile buzzes to full drones, yet none too overbearing. He worked with his material like an expert craftsman, each sonic placement was heavily considered and full of intent. The artist led listeners through exquisite sonic passages with a great confidence; the listener did not know where they were being taken, they may have even lost a sense of where they were coming from, they were simply along for the trip. Decades of compositional experience shone through in this electronic music pioneer.
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
At Hermann’s Bar following the concert, a 10 year anniversary party for Liquid Architecture took place. Artists Loom, DJ Corporal Leper, Puzahki, DJ Lieutenant Colonel Spastic Howitzer, Buttress O’Kneel and the Evolution Control Committee took to the stage to help celebrate. US act The Evolution Control Committee (ECC) were a definite highlight, mixing humour, highly performative antics and a whole load of illegal samples to produce an entertaining and much appreciated show. In kind of faux Wheel of Fortune performance, The ECC’s Mark Gunderson (or TradeMark G. as he is otherwise known) invited audience members to join him (and hostess ‘Mashette’ in a miniskirt, Frillypants) on stage to spin the ‘Wheel of Mashup’. Littered with popular artist names, the wheel would determine which tracks Gunderson was to amalgamate. Gunderson’s proclaimed ‘VidiMasher 3000’ (being a large touch screen operating perhaps the most sample-loaded session of Ableton Live I have ever seen) allowed the artist to do the rest of the work, mashing tracks in a visual and pop music spectacular that doubled as a sardonic critique of copyright infringement laws.
Image above: Plump (Dave Brown, Marc Rogerson and Philip Samartzis); Liquid Architecture, Performance Space at CarriageWorks, Saturday 27 June 2009. Photo: Toby Grime.
Images below, top to bottom: Chris Abrahams and Kraig Grady, Asmus Tietchens, Dave Brown of Plump, Somaya Langley; Liquid Architecture, Performance Space at CarriageWorks, Saturday 27 June 2009. Photography: Toby Grime.
