Liquid Architecture 6 was a big blast. Numerous performances across five cities, exhibitions, artist talks and screenings made 2005 the biggest and best year yet.

Thanks to everyone who played any part (big and small) in making it happen, but especially a huge thanks to the artists who contributed work and to you!, the audience for making it a success.

Among my personal highlights;

photo: Sue Jones
The queue to get in the door at the opening night in Melbourne! About 150 people attended and countless others listened to the national broadcast on ABC Classic FM.

photo: Luke Jaaniste
Australian Will Guthrie, now living in Nantes, France performing at the North Melbourne Town Hall opening night concert in Melbourne, July 1st. He performed from the middle of the audience with a collection of cymbals, bells, wire coils, found objects and small car speakers.

photo: Luke Jaaniste
DJ Olive aka Gregor Asch from the US, on two turntables with his own records containing specially prepared loops, rhythms and textures which he manipulates live via turntables and mixing console using eq and effects. Broadcast live on ABC Classic FM on the night.

photo: Luke Jaaniste
Essendon Airport, one of the major Australian groups of the post-punk era, led by David Chesworth in a nostalgic reunion performance at the North Melbourne Town Hall opening night concert July 1st 2005. Also broadcast live on ABC Classic FM.

photo: Sharna Hackett
The opening of the exhibition Phonebox by Metaphonica at the Swanston Artspace at RMIT City campus on July 6th July. METAPHONICA is a duo made of Perth sound artists Rob Muir and Cat Hope. The piece laments the loss of the phone box in the Australian urban landscape and uses new ‘realtone’ mobile phone technology (.mp3 and .amr compressions), using 2G mobile phones as transmitters for sound art. At the opening, a concurrent ‘event’ took place in Perth at the same time, where people called the installation from there, and the two artists in METAPHONICA connected via the work.

photograph: Sue Jones
The Reflected waves sound installation at the Westspace Gallery Melbourne, by French artists Jean Luc Guionnet and Eric La Casa was a representation of a specific environment through sound: on one hand, the gallery, on the other hand, the city of Melbourne. Supported by the Artist In Residence Program at the School of Art RMIT.

photograph: Nat Bates
The big sign outside the Performance Space in Sydney. It lights up at night and you can see it from a long way away!

photograph: Nat Bates
The foyer at the Performance Space where 150 people attended the opening night. Liquid Architecture 6 in Sydney consisted of three nights and one afternoon. Very well attended, great performances and a fantastic festive vibe.

photograph: Nat Bates
Reformation of the seminal Australian electronic group Social Interiors. Rik Rue and Julian Knowles performing live manipulation of sonic materials to create phantom and perhaps impossible acoustic spaces, at the Performance Space in Sydney on July 14th.

photograph: Nat Bates
French saxophonist Jean Luc Guionnet performing at the Performance Space in Sydney on July 14th 2005 (Bastille Day!) The performance was a dialogue with sound artist Eric La Casa who manipulated field recordings from the mixing desk behind the audience. The pair travelled from France for the festival performances and to present a site specific sound installation in Melbourne at the Westspace Gallery. Thanks to the RMIT School of Art, Artists in Residence program.

photograph: Thembi Soddell
Thomas Brinkmann from Germany performing at the Performance Space in Sydney on July 15th. World renowned for his stripped-down techno, here he presented a compelling performance of new Klick material, scratched locked grooves on vinyl, which he explained later will eventually be released as Klick 2.

photograph: Nat Bates
Georgian electronic musician Natalie Beridze aka TBA performing at the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns on July 16th 2005. Now based in Germany, Natalie makes music that traverses the ground between experimental music and dance. It was a beautiful night at the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns – beautiful venue, beautiful people and the weather! What winter?

Seems to me it all went pretty well – what do you think?

Shall we do it all again next year?

til then,

bestest,

nat

ONLINE / TELEPHONE BOOKINGS and PRE SALES

MELBOURNE
North Melbourne Town Hall – ticketmaster7 phone 1300 136 166
Public Office – In The Mix, Slap Records 9416 3707, Central Station 9642 5744, Collectors Corner 9663 3442, DMC Records 9824 1211
Kaleide RMIT Union Theatre – ticketmaster7 phone 1300 136 166

BRISBANE
Judith Wright Centre – online phone 07 3872 9000 (12noon to 4pm Mon to Fri only)

SYDNEY
Performance Space – online phone 02 9698 7235 (10am – 6pm Mon to Fri)

We are excited to announce that the July issue of The Wire features a subscriber exclusive Liquid Architecture CD!
Compiled by Phillip Pietruschka and Nat Bates

Made possible only through the generous support of RMIT Union, the main student service provider at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

Specially produced for The Wire and given away to all the magazine’s subscribers worldwide, the CD celebrates the first 6 years of Liquid Architecture with tracks by artists that have appeared at the festival over the years;

tracklist

1. Bucketrider – Événement 1 L’Spontaneist
2. Thembi Soddell – Discomfort
3. Qua – Output
4. Tim Catlin – Hysterisis
5. E.P.A. – Black Ice …With Brake Fluid
6. Bruce Mowson – Obsess
7. Oren Ambarchi & Martin Ng – When Love Comes Back To Haunt You
8. nat – glass
9. Philip Samartzis – Unheard Spaces
10. Robin Fox & Anthony Pateras – Aphasia
11. Lawrence English & Ai Yamamoto – Gazing Into The Sun
12. Camilla Hannan – Itchy
13. Phillip Pietruschka – The Evidence Of Love
14. Pimmon – Smaller Than You Are

The CD is only available to subscribers, and is not on sale with the magazine in the shops. If you are not yet a subscriber you can still get your hands on a copy of the CD by taking out a new subscription to The Wire this month.

For details of how to subscribe to The Wire go to
www.thewire.co.uk

INCIDENTAL AMPLIFICATIONS
Curated By Lloyd Barrett // Lawrence English

For most of us, our every moment (awake and unconscious) is enveloped by sound. From the obnoxious alarm tone that raises us from slumber to the microscopic sounds of natural nocturnal transmissions; there is always sound.

As a society we have increasingly sought to augment and indeed control the environments around us. All manner of tools have been utilised in this ongoing war against the unfamiliar, the unexpected and the ‘undesirable’. Along with a variety of visuals cues, sound is progressively used to colour our surroundings with aural hues.

The Twentieth Century brought with it an unparalleled use of artificial sound in the form of George Squier’s Muzak – a creation designed to enhance (and perhaps determine) amongst other things our ‘shopping’ experience. For decades, no mall or place of substantial commerce was complete without the dulcet tones of Muzak. To many it would seem that there is a world of difference between the bleating high frequency sounds of an Indian marketplace and multiple channels of mid-tempo instrumental music filling our shopping malls; however the ability for sound to draw and focus our attention is universal and well documented.

But what of the remaining sounds? The incidental sounds that Muzak tries (and often fails) to mask: a dropped plate in the kitchen; a leaky tap; the creaking sounds of heated aluminium roofing and the ever-present air conditioner.

Incidental Amplifications reclaims the consumer soundscape by dispersing pieces made from incidental sounds into a variety of public spaces including the Fortitude Valley and Chinatown mall multi-speaker sound-systems in Brisbane, Australia.

Selected submissions will be sequenced and dispersed late nights as part of Liquid Architecture 6, Valley Fiesta and the Queensland Music Festival 2005.

Artists from Queensland, Australia and the rest of the world are invited to contribute an audio work that addresses the ideas of reclaiming and utilising these subsidiary soundtracks to our everyday shopping/urban/rural experiences.

The pieces selected for the exhibition can be of variable length.
Guidelines for submission are as follows:
1) Submitted pieces must address incidental sounds either directly (field recordings etc) or indirectly (reconfigured sound or synthesised incidentals);
2) All pieces must be suitable for use in a public space with a general audience;
3) All submission should be sent as a data and audio CD;
4) Submissions are due by Monday 24th June 2005.

Please send all submissions to
ROOM40 C/O:
LAWRENCE ENGLISH
PO BOX 771
HAMILTON CENTRAL
QLD
AUSTRALIA 4007

This project is supported by Liquid Architecture, Queensland Music Festival, Valley Fiesta, Room40 and Small Black Box.

Liquid Architecture continues its tradition of providing opportunities for emerging sound artists. For the forthcoming sixth annual Liquid Architecture, the festival presents the Feedback Sessions.

The Feedback Sessions are designed to give unpublished and unsigned artists an opportunity to play their work and have it discussed in a public forum with the festival audience. Four, one-hour sessions will be assigned to selected artists to present and discuss their work in the format they choose. The Feedback Sessions are scheduled to take place at the North Melbourne Town Hall over the weekend of 2nd and 3rd of July 2005.

To be eligible for selection please submit the following;
A single audio CD/CDR of your work, or DVD/VHS for
soundtrack/audio-visual work
Written proposal, max. 2 pages including CV/Bio

The written proposal should include:
What do you want to present? Eg. 3 new tracks (15mins total)
How do you want to present? Eg. Play all tracks, then discuss.
Why do you want to present? Eg. Tracks are unfinished and I want feedback.
Who are yo? Bio/CV, list of achievements, future plans for your sound.
What are your technical requirements? Eg. Stereo/quad audio playback, projection, etc.

Submissions will be assessed on:
Quality of work/written submission
Relevance to festival
Perceived benefit to artist

The selected artists will be featured on the Liquid Architecture website. While this is an Australia-wide call, there is no provision for participant travel expenses. Accommodation in Melbourne may be arranged if required – please contact the festival for further details.

Applications should be posted to:

LA6 Artist Feedback Sessions
PO Box 2300
Prahran, Vic 3181
Australia

Or hand delivered to:
Nat Bates, c/o Liquid Architecture
RMIT Union Arts
Street level, 360 Swanston St (Kaleide Theatre Foyer)
Melbourne

DEADLINE:
Received (not postmarked) by 5pm Friday 27th May.

Successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday 8th June.

This initiative is supported by City of Melbourne, Arts Victoria and RMIT Union Arts.