Northern Exposure Festival - northcote

Northern Exposure Festival: Program PDF - click on above image

THIS JUST IN >>>>>>>>

I will be installing one of the multi-channel works from Noirlac Abbey, as part of a group exhibition for the Northcote, Northern Exposure Festival, 2012. Fellow sound nut and friend, Martin Kay AKA Mountain Black, is bringing together a group of artists - a few of us (which have worked together in the past and I'd go so far as to say we were part of a 'Time and Place' experimental small sub culture) to install our pieces at the Northcote Uniting Church.

Details are as follows

'I Am Your Surroundings' - presented by Martin Kay

Photographic and multichannel sound compositions, exploring notions of compassion, empathy and comfort.

Featured artists include: Darrin Verhagen, Tessa Elieff, Martin Kay, Nick Van Cuylenburg, Jake Carter.

Northcote Uniting Church - 251 High St Northcote, Melbourne.

Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd of June.

11am - 5pm

Free

I would like to acknowledge the In-Habit international initiative, Punctum Arts and Arts Victoria, for making the work at le abbaye Noirlac, possible.

      

Initiated as part of Punctum's In-Habit international initiative.

Hope to see you there,

Trip to the NFSA - Canberra

Hands-on exhibit, NFSA 2012

I found myself wandering through the entrance to the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) in Canberra just after the weekend. My only wish was that I had made it there earlier in the day as the Library collection closes at 3 - regardless - it was a bit of a treasure trove worth rumaging through for a dose of Australian history. They have a small and intimate theatre that shows a selection of footage, movies and moving imagery, depending on the program at the NFSA. While I was there I watched some old footage of some of Australia's first travellers to the Antactic (With Sir Douglas Mawson). Was pretty entertaining listening to the tales of the photographer that Mawson selected to take with him on the trip and of course, the weather conditions were brutal. I know that travellers today experience the same conditions but even considering the technology of the travel wear and equipment (shoes, jackets, thermals) now compared to then, made you aware (as the observer) of just how savage the trip to Antarctica would have been in the early 1900's. As a photographer, your dedication to your art would been unquestionable...

Sound Effects Booth, NFSA 2012

They had managed to salvage an old sound effects module as commonly used in radio and movies alike (to your left). The carved wooden 'feet' for the sound of walking and footsteps sounded unreal - triggering memory recall of cartoons and old movie scenes where a character is hiding from someone behind a closed door, as they slowly walk across the room.... Currently, the NFSA is asking for nominations for the 'Sounds of Australia, 2012' - will have to think about this one for a bit. The collection was launched in 2007 and has since had sounds from songs, radio, comedies and speeches added.

It's worth mentioning that the Mediatheque at ACMI in Melbourne also provides access to the NFSA's collection and all for free to the public. Again, give yourself plenty of time though. Sound and vision are time based art forms and it is more than easy to spend a day in Mediatheque booth, watching footage of melbourne's 'Sharpies' movement from the early 70's - or scrolling through the recording snippets in their data base. 

Inspiration for Moozak and Vienna

Gordon Matta-Clark: Conical Intersect, 1975

I am inspired by the space that will house the Moozak Festival. The venue is called MediaOpera - which is a space that was transformed from an old cattleshed into a venue. The thought of unleashing my sounds into such a space definitely sparks my creative intuition - pulling my ideas to the work of 70's artist, Gordon Matta-Clark. Originally schooled in architecture, Matta-Clark became known for his work that entailed cutting out pieces of floors, walls and ceilings from old and unused buildings (building cuts), leaving gaping holes in the walls of our realities.

'I aim to convert a place into a state of mind'
Matta-Clark: 1976

Gordon Matta-Clark: Office Baroque, 1977

I like the fact that he makes physical, changes to our environment that are not dissimilar to the changes that I envision when I work with sound and space. I like the fact that for the Moozak festival, artists are being placed within a space that has a previous identity (MediaOpera - Cattleshed) so there is already present an undertone impression of this character. The space has already been altered - and while we view it's built purpose and intent as being completely different to that of it's origin, the first reality still exists - moulding with the new and creating a new reality that is neither how it was, nor how we think we have made it to be.

Let's see what I will be able to add to the equation.......