PROGRAMME CONTINUED..
Do Not Go (8’00)
Thomas Bowden, Samuel Marelich, David Simpemba
Drawing inspiration from the poem Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas, our
piece explores the themes of life and death. With an unrestrained rage against the inevitable
‘dying of the light’ we explore multiple worlds and the metaphysical possibilities and implications of
death. Reimagining this poem in a twenty-first century context, a real-time multimedia
presentation is constructed using Max7 software, three computers, Xbox controllers and a
webcam as the technical ingredients of the piece. A soundscape is created in real-time using the
XBox controllers which add and subtract auditory elements on demand. Visuals are generated
from a webcam and then undergo a range of manipulations, along with graphic images,
manipulated with a further Xbox controller. The performers work as a group, each with a key part
to play. As we progress through the grief of Dylan Thomas portrays, we hope to captivate and
challenge you as we come to terms with our ultimate position as terminal cases.
Returning (7’17)
Director: Julia Reynolds. Composition: Gareth Schott
Returning is a response to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film “Vertigo”. Part of the film focuses on the
idea or motif of repetition. Repetition in Returning enables the film to have a fluid narrative
structure – the repetition supports a movement backwards towards the initial images on screen.
However, this movement is also destabilized because of the repetition used. The movement
forward, is always in flux, the repeated images – especially where I return to the lounge room – are
slightly varied, which further destabilizes what we think we may have known or may assume to
know or predict. The repetition of sequences, parts of sequences and single images create a
montage that blur a linear pathway – time is not seen as duration but a constant Now.
INSTALLATION:
More Than That
Aden Savenye, Qiangpan Chen, Kirsty Brock
More Than That is an installation that uses an Oculus Rift headset to immerse the participant into
an interactive virtual reality world where they can view Instagram images collected in real-time in a
way they have never seen before. We also use two Wii remotes programmed in Max7 to influence
the ever changing atmosphere of this unique world. More Than That explores the influence that
information overload has on our senses and frame of mind. We are use Plutchik’s wheel of
emotions to guide you on a singular journey through as range of feeling. Audience members are
invited to come and step into the virtual reality world created and experience the performance for
themselves.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Material Coordinating:
Ian Whalley & Teresa Connor (Creative Technologies)
Teresa Connors (Music)
Gareth Schott (Screen and Media).
Theatre Operational: Staff of the APA
SoA Support: Luke Jacobs
Administration: Kim Johnson, Margaret Amies
Programme Image: Naomi Whalley
Programme Notes: Provided by the creators
Stage Management: CRPC301 Group
ARTZELECTRO 2015
ArtzElectro aims to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between new and traditional methods
of artistic production through real-time performance/rendering and showcase experimental art
forms combining different electronic media.
This workshop/concert is of students’ work, many of which are from the third year of the Creative
Technologies and Creative Practice (CRPC301) class of the BMCT degree. A feature is that they
largely first programmed digital ‘instruments’ which are then played in real-time through a variety of
controllers to construct visuals and sounds. Computers are also used to generate variations of
parts of the works, so that outcomes differ with each performance made. And expanding the
concert are new works from the Music Programme, and Screen & Media Programme, with an
experimental focus.
Ian Whalley, Director - ArtzElectro
PROGRAMME
Lotus (8’00)
Jessica Wilson, Gabriel Baker, Shae-Erana Capewell & Dan Gordon
Lotus is an interactive performance piece inspired by transformation. The lotus is a symbol for
purity of the body, speech, and mind. The lotus blossoms from mud to embrace the sun —
representing both life and death. Through this metaphor we explore eight stages of a young
woman’s journey as she grows: isolation, sadness, detachment, confusion, psychosis,
desperation, madness, and false hope. At the core of these stages are sadness, anger, confusion,
love, and hope. We intertwine these primal feelings into her experiences, from the unknown to the
known. What lies at the end of her struggle? You decide whether she sinks with the weight of her
feelings, whether she chooses to go on towards the sun, or will be lost to the murky waters.
Technically, the dancer’s movements are motion tracked which transform the visual and audio
motives. Two players control a layer of graphics programmed in Max7 and Isadora, triggered in
real-time with a MIDI keyboard played along with the HD web camera capturing the dancer’s
movements. The graphics are sensitive to lighting, movement, and sound. An Xbox Kinect tracks
the dancer’s movements through Max7, triggering audio samples, with a player layering additional
samples via a MIDI turntable.
Inside Out (8’00)
Kate McGready, Johnny Ryan
Inside Out is an exploration of our shifting sense of inside, outside and outer space — both literal
and metaphorical. We are trapped, but we want to break out of our confines and make space.
Through the manipulation of sounds and visuals representing different aspects of our relationship
with space, from the concrete to the surreal, we will help you to escape. Technically, when the
conductive spoons are touched they trigger sounds/sound effects, which in turn trigger aspects of
the graphics patch. Two computers are used to render the work, which are programmed in Max7.
The spoons are connect to an Ototo MIDI device and trigger our program. An iPad controls the
graphics part. Inside Out is performed by two players, with each section timed to transition
smoothly between each space being explored. Sounds match the graphics to reflect the concept
of Inside Out. The performance attempts to invoke a sense of multiple perspectives of space
rendered through layered audio, graphics and the visual nature of the input devices used in
performance.
Spatial Awareness (6’00)
Wairehu Grant
Spatial Awareness is an electroacoustic composition intended to show how the environment in
which a piece is performed/recorded influences the musical outcome. The objective is to record
three separate versions of the piece in three different spaces (this ArtzElectro being one of them)
and then present them as a combined work, demonstrating the influence that a change in space
can have upon the same composition.
The work is arranged for acoustic guitar along with percussive sound, and also requires audience
participation in the sound at times, so each performance is intentionally littered with incidental
noises in the space it is performed. And for this performance I will be urging members of the
audience to come forward and interact with the piece by speaking or simply creating noises into
the allocated microphone. These sonic elements are captured through several microphones
placed at varying distances from the sound source/performer, along with contact microphones
arranged to capture elements such as foot stomping. From here the sounds are fed into Max7 and
the tonal qualities shaped to form strange and at times chaotic timbral forms.
Obstructions:
Scream (1’32)
Lauren Wimmers, Emily Bisset, Holly Middlemiss, Nicholas Aw & Nanati Molu
Overflow (1’11)
Anna Joy O’Dea, Caitlin Mackenzie Powell, Sam Hutton, Zeta Mohn & Phillipa Perry
Influenced by Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier’s The Five Obstructions, a single film (20 People
Performing 20 Actions) is remade three times, with only a week between each new film. With each
remake the filmmakers have a set of obstructions imposed upon them that have to be met. This
project encourages filmmakers to reconfigure and extend the possibilities of their films. Films have
to be reimagined rather than refined.
Keeping Face (8’00)
Nikki Nguyen, Wairehu Grant, Shelly Xiong
The idea of ‘keeping face’ permeates many aspects of human experience, such as maintaining
visible composure in stressful work or in social situations, or perhaps keeping a stern or
aggressive look to support strong emotions. This cohesion of emotion and expression defines how
individuals present to the world. The interplay between them can be a delicate and at times
unstable, and it is this sense of uncertainty that our interactive performance interprets and
explores. To do this, we created an audio visual representation of human expression and emotion
achieved through two elements —animated characters exhibiting various emotions with a
graphics layer also representing their internal states, all accompanied by live digitally processed
electric guitar improvisation. This synthesis of sound and image is programmed in Max7 with all
sounds and visuals rendered live through a single patch on one laptop. The guitar is fed into the
laptop through an effects pedal. This sound input influences certain aspects of the visuals, and
both the guitar part and video are also manipulated through use of an Xbox controller.
Confession (6’29)
Binlong Ai
This highly personal short film presents a gay Asian’s confession to his parents. The overall
aesthetic, fragmentation and blurriness of the work reflects the fear of coming out. In recent years
New Zealand has become a ‘destination’ for gay Chinese. Yet, for those who have escaped the
Chinese social pressures of straight marriage, coming out to family remains a responsibility that
continues to generate feelings of unease and anxiety. This film also signals a minority that is
invisible within mainstream New Zealand culture.
Journey Through Many Winds for Clarinet and Live Electronics (8’00)
Elisha Hankins
This work was inspired by a narrative of a journeyman travelling across lands, discovering different
surroundings and spaces. It emulates aurally the various atmospheres of places witnessed on the
journey. The work is performed live by a clarinettist from a written score using traditional as well as
a pitch-form methods. This allows for the player’s use of the traditional stave as a template for their
creative playing around pitch. The clarinet sound is received into Max7 via a microphone. This
allows for the computer software to manipulate and redefine the sound coming from the clarinet.
The change in movements and software program is controlled with an Xbox gaming controller.
With the final sound being outputted through a stereo P.A. system, this allows for real-time
transformation of sound. Each movement within the piece explores various sound processing and
sculpting techniques that have an intelligent part to play how the clarinet is filtered and altered in
the sonic outcome.