SPECIAL THANKS TO
Staff of the Academy of Performing Arts, Terrance Maxwell, Kim Johnson, Lizzie Dobson.
Event Material Coordinating: Simon Laing and Nicholas Vanderschantz (Computer Graphic Design)
Bevan Yeatman (Screen and Media), Donna Campbell (School of Maori and Pacific Development)
Gaye Poole (Theatre Studies), Ian Whalley (Music)
Images CGRD143 photography class: students were challenged to
create the impression of “movement” through a static image.
Front cover image: Lucy Mew
Back cover image: Skott Alonzo
ARTZELECTRO
FRIDAY 21 MAY 2010 | 7.30PM | GALLAGHER CONCERT CHAMBER | WEL ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS
Pianosophagus by Peter McKinnon
ARTZELECTRO
ArtzElectro focuses on creative works that combine different electronic media, and works
that combine electronic media with visual arts and/or real-time performance. This inaugural
concert presents a selection of largely recent University student works from Music, Screen
and Media, Computer Graphic Design, Theatre Studies, and the School of Maori and Pacific
Development.
This year the University introduced a new Bachelor of Media and Creative Technologies
degree that will facilitate further dialogue and outputs between the creative and performing
arts on campus. We hope that this presentation tonight encourages further interdisciplinary
creative endeavours.
The intention of ArtzElectro going forward is to build an event that draws on local, national
and international contributions; and also combines the real space of our Gallagher Concert
Chamber with online spaces, real or virtual, accessed through the internet. Many thanks for
coming along and being part of our beginning.
Ian Whalley - Director
Music
Wrong Number by E.J. Dobson. for amplified soprano and live electronics
8.00
Diantha Hillenbrand (soprano), E.J. Dobson (laptop computer)
Submitted as part of MMus in Composition in 2010, this piece grew out of a conceptual song
cycle for soprano and computer. It is a setting of Janet Frame’s poem Wrong Number, from
her poetry collection The Goose Bath. The work makes use of real-time effects processing
of both voice and pre-recorded audio samples that are manipulated to create a soundscape
over which the soprano sings.
Wrong Number by Janet Frame
It is not the right time to telephone me.
I have been emptying ashes
from two fires,
getting rid of old bodies of embers
with traces in my hair and eyes
stinging and
flames freshly bleeding where I struck the hot coals
meaning only to bring about
a deathbed
revival as I promised, setting my speech
to match the fires frail whispering,
I must be
Cruel (surely you have heard it!) to be kind.
But I am tired and it is not
the right time
to telephone me and ask in a strange voice
Hello is that the Mornington
Butchery.
The initial idea I had for this piece was one of the piano having a throat, much like any living
entity. I wanted to convey a sense of entering into the voice making mechanism of the piano,
providing a contrast to the way the piano is usually thought of. The definition of oesophagus
– the word used to base the title on, is; ‘the part of the alimentary canal that connects the
throat to the stomach; the gullet. In humans and other vertebrates it is a muscular tube lined
with mucous membrane’. In this piece I explored the relationship between the performer and
instrument, the simple lines of the piano part contrasting with the complex and somewhat
aggravated portrayal of the pianoesophagus. Woven into the piece is also my experience of
learning to play the piano, and becoming frustrated with being unable to play what I wanted.
Pianosophagus received a merit prize at the 2009 Lilburn trust awards and was also accepted
at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival in March 2010. The work was submitted
as part of BMus(Hons) in Composition.
Theatre Studies
Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley
PROGRAMME
8.52
12.19
LA based playwright Jennifer Haley’s interest in the pristine veneer and seething dysfunction of the suburbs was an inspiration for the piece, one that dovetailed with her fascination
with the cultural phenomenon of online gaming. “I see both suburbia and the videogame as
carefully constructed realities….in a game-playing environment it’s clear to see how a reality
is built – there are these steps, there are these rules. Suburban settings, I find, are a kind of
‘virtual’ environment too”. The digital backdrops for the scenes were created in the Campus
Mediarena Facility.
A production by Carving in Ice, Telecom Playhouse, August 2009.
Directed by Gaye Poole, Theatre Studies.
This project was a cross disciplinary collaboration developed/rehearsed over 9 months involving the following: Grant Sherson (mediarena) created the digital backdrops; Bill
Rogers (Computer Science) did the ‘walkthrough’ slides; Gareth Schott (Screen and Media)
was game consultant; with Dan Howard and Caleb Poutapu (sound design and operation);
Michael Lamusse (lighting design/operation); and Delwyn Dellow (Hillary scholar) as
production manager. This collaboration demanded months of conversations/ trials and
revisions/adjustments. Gaye Poole met the play and playwright in 2008 while on Study Leave
as assistant Director at the 32nd Humana festival of New American Plays in Louisville
Kentucky. This Carving in Ice production was the first production of the play outside the US.
Maori and Pacific Development
AHO a conversation with the whenua by Donna Campbell
4.29
In the practice of raranga or Maori weaving, the narratives of whakapapa connect the maker,
materials, artefact and end users in ways that conform to the continuum of identity,
configuration and transmission. As an indigenous artist negotiating the post-colonial discourse my work has not and could not be created without interweaving the narratives that
pertain to being ‘indigenous’.
This work investigates an intrinsic relationship between the land and the feminine. Although
whakapapa is based in language, the understanding of descent is imprinted on the body, a
body that knows without language and without analysis why it is. Through the images of
AHO the body becomes as one with the whenua. The layering of these images resonates
with the layering of harakeke in the act of raranga. The trace of Maori weavers i nga ra o mua
throughout time is integral to each of these images. Interwoven within the narrative of connection and whakapapa is the desolation and pain of violence, the rejection of the feminine
and contempt for the land. These layers of discourse are the constructed through imagery as
the fabric of reclamation, of self realisation and strength in vulnerability. Each layer supports
the other as in the construction of kete, so the layers of these images construct the narrative
of whakapapa, identity and self. This work was created in as an installation in partial fulfilment of a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Whitecliffe College of Art and Design Auckland
2005.
Screen and Media
The Passenger (2009)
6.00
This was an assignment made by a production team from Small Studio Production Two,
SMST310, with a brief to interpret a script by Alistair Swale and to explore a new media
form, the ‘movic’ (a moving comic). This entailed developing an aesthetic that suggested the
graphic nature of the comic but also demanded choreography, not only of actors and their
movements, but also in relation to the different frames on the screen. The idea was to create
a work that could be viewed silently but had the added option of a sound track to heighten
the atmosphere and feel of the ‘movic’. All of the performance was filmed in the television
studio and then post-production was achieved in the edit suites in ITS.
Memories of Time (2009) by Kaze Chen
2.00
This assignment was created by Kaze for Video Production Three and here the brief was to
consider the idea of beauty and create an audiovisual work under two minutes. For Kaze,
beauty is captured in transition and transformation and he has endeavoured to portray this
through the layering of moving images and, in relation to nature, the changes from season
to season, while, in terms of human beings, from age to age. This work initiated a series of
investigations in relation to the nature of composition, colour and movement and how these
elements could be developed to create images of intensity.
Papershop (2009) by Hemi Ormsby and Ben Stoner
2.00
Papershop was created by Bachelor of Computer Graphic Design students, taking Animation
Studies as a supporting subject. Doing so enabled these students to compare computer
animation with stop-motion animation. The brief for this assignment was to explore one or
two of the key concepts introduced during the Animation Studies lectures. Hemi and Ben decided they would explore the relation between 2D and 3D space and the interplay between
sound and image. In addition to this, they wanted to playfully contrast their different
experiences of animating using computer software, and stop-motion animation. Eschewing
narrative conventions, and utilising a mixture of stop-motion and computer animation
techniques, this project works as a playful, conceptual exploration of the relative tangibility
and ‘hand-made’, material qualities of different animation techniques.
Summer Thirst (2009) by Jesper Kerkeby Brevik and Bendik Stubstad Henriksen
3.30
Utilising a conventional narrative structure, Summer Thirst is the tale of a thirsty pot plant
that will do anything for a drink of water. For this project, Jesper and Bendik set out to
explore the concept of anthropomorphism, which means to apply human qualities or
behaviours to an animal, inanimate object or idea. After planning the basic structure of their
story and developing some basic character traits, these students spent some time working
out how to apply human gestures to their pot plant model. The brief for this assignment
stipulated that the students could not use dialogue, so Jesper and Bendik were challenged to
think of ways to communicate the feelings and motivation of the pot plant.
Just Colour (2009) by Jesper Kerkeby Brevik
original soundtrack composed by DJ Dreamland
2.00
The brief for this assignment was to create an audio-visual work that explored one or two
key concepts associated with Visual Music or Screen Dance. In this paper, students were also
fortunate to be working in close collaboration with students in the Music programme, so the
soundtrack was an original composition created especially for Just Colour. Inspired by the
work of Wassily Kandinsky, Len Lye and Norman McLaren, Jesper was interested in exploring
the relation between visual and musical elements. He was particularly interested in
drawing a direct correlation between specific colours and musical pitch and timbre. His
intention was to visually interpret the specific qualities of different instrumental sounds, so
that each colour was personified and choreographed in synchronisation with the music.
Jesper was also interested in the concept of materiality, hence his rationale to bypass
computer generated imagery, instead using an HD video camera to capture the material
properties of powder-based paint as it reacted with the water in a fish tank. With no narrative
or characters to engage the audience, Just Colour engages audience members in alternative
ways. As such it is a powerful experiment into the concept of ‘haptic audio-visuality’.
Triptych (2009) by Ken Yuan
5.00
This was a research project for a one paper honours dissertation with the brief to explore the
compositional strategies utilised by the British painter Francis Bacon. The motivation was to
explore some of Bacon’s own paintings, especially those that were in the form of a triptych,
and research how moving image might be composed and arranged into three panels to
somehow emulate these and maybe extend the possibilities. A further task was to utilise
some of the ideas of Gilles Deleuze, a contemporary French philosopher, and attempt to
understand these through the performance of his ideas, especially those based on his
conceptualising of affect. Ken understands his work as; suggesting an implicit autobiographical experience but not developing a defined narrative. Ken Yuan is now an editor in a
production house in Beijing.
Computer Graphic Design
BCGD degree show piece by Ben Stoner
3.37
The theme for the 2009 Computer Graphic Design show (“E-motion”) encouraged students
to combine what they had learnt in both graphic design and computer science over the
course of their studies. Ben’s piece used a variety of techniques and a combination of 2D and
3D graphics to express ideas about ‘hope’ and ‘despair’.
Parihaka by Eli Peters
3.19
A type-in-motion piece set to the poem by Apirana Taylor. Created as part of a second year
assignment in CGRD242; students were tasked with finding an appropriate visual form to
complement the New Zealand poet of their choice. The work was intended as an exercise in
graphic design, focussing on typography and related skills.
The Nose by Eugene Hooper
1.35
Type-in-motion piece set to the poem by Peter Bland. Created as part of a second year
assignment in CGRD242; students were tasked with finding an appropriate visual form to
complement the New Zealand poet of their choice. The work was intended as an exercise in
graphic design, focussing on typography and related skills.
Fictional Television Station by Eugene Hooper
0.15
Idents created for a fictional television station in CGRD343 called “Archive Music
Television”: a music channel that broadcasts alternative, unfamiliar, lesser-known artists and
music genres. “Archive Music Television” allows viewers to experience something they are not
used to seeing on more conventional music channels and exposes them to a world of dark,
surreal and quirky programming.
Music
Hydro Watt by Richard Robertson
8.15
In Hyrdo Watt I was inspired by the transformation of natural energy sources into domestic
power. The Waikato River generates power through eight hydroelectric power stations, the interaction between nature and technology making this possible. The images contrast and link
the source and outcome of these processes in a visual narrative. The soundtrack reinforces
the narrative at times, but also remains independent to reflect the central concept through
its own narrative. The work was completed as part of a BA(Hons) in Music and Screen and
Media, as a former student of the University.
Chill Before Dawn from “Ode to a Cricket” by Hannah Gilmour
5.34
It is easy to overlook things that seem insignificant and forget the need to stop and pay
attention to details. We miss the joy and importance of small things. In this work I used the
single sample of a cricket chirping to symbolise the solitary voice of one overlooked by
society. By drawing the audience’s attention to this sound, I have attempted to portray
how, even though it has a small role, there is something charming and captivating about the
cricket’s call. I have explored this idea in three movements; this first movement, Chill Before
Dawn, explores the melodic properties of the cricket call and is used to introduce the theme.
The use of space and simplicity were important in the construction and development. I
wanted the listener to feel they had gone on a journey with the cricket from loneliness and
solitude, to fear and frustration, and finally peace. Chill Before Dawn was included in the New
York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, 25 - 27 March 2010. It is also to be played at the
International Computer Music Conference, New York and the Sound, Sight, Space and Play
graduate symposium, Leicester, in June 2010. The work was completed as part of an MMus
composition portfolio.
Technology Biology by Tam Hill
6.12
This piece compares machinery with nature. We journey from sharp technological sounds
with added computer effects, through to the fluent and more melodic sounds of the human
body. I was inspired by metal sculptures created by the artist Len Lye. These sculptures
produce metallic sounds at random and I have layered varying tempos of clocks ticking to
replicate this. Juxtaposed with machinery sounds, I have used human voice and heartbeat
samples. To add humour - and a sense of unity to the piece - the human voice replicates the
clock by speaking the words ‘tick tock’. My hope is that after the abrupt end of this piece, the
listener’s awareness may be raised to the sounds of life and nature that surround them. The
work was completed as part of MUSI340 Digital Composition in 2010.
Blue into Blue by Jenny Spark
for piano trio, mezzo soprano & percussion with electronic effects
4.14
Hannah Willemse - piano, Diantha Hillenbrand - soprano, Yotam Levy - cello,
Margarietha du Preez - violin, Lizzie Dobson & Katie Johnson - percussion, Jenny Spark
- electronic effects
For this piece, I set the text of a poem by New Zealand poet Eileen Duggan (1894-1972),
“Horizon”, which addresses themes of passion, ecstasy and ‘the Other’. I found the poem
after the music was written, but the words fit the rhythmic flow almost perfectly. I chose it
because its meaning is so close to the essence of the music. Added to the traditional piano
trio are electronically manipulated percussion sounds, focusing on grain delay effects. These
evolve over the course of the piece. The addition of a singer adds a further sonic dimension,
making for a dense texture of sonorities in a harmonically rich, rhythmically-driven work.
Throughout, there is a constant tension between harmony and dissonance, as it was composed using twelve-tone serial rows but has a tonal feel. The work was completed as part of
MUSI315 Composition 3 in 2010.
Horizon by Eileen Duggan
The sky is summered into trance,
The sea is caught up too,
And with what passion of amaze
Over their meeting
Blue broods into blue.
So might a saint in ecstasy,
His heaven hot and bare,
Stumble upon another saint,
And with no greeting,
Kneel into his prayer.
All notes provided by composers/authors of the works