Liquid Architecture 10 (LA10) in Melbourne saw the festival return to the Arts House at North Melbourne Town Hall. These concerts were the largest shows in attendance at LA10, and additional events were held too including the Infinite Music Machine installation by Dale Gorfinkel, Rosalind Hall and Peter Blamey, John Grzinich's Location Sound Films (both at West Space); a forum at the Tape Projects Warehouse Space held by the Within Earshot collective; and a screening at the Melbourne Planetarium featuring Edgard Varèse's Poème électronique. Melbourne, both internally and externally to the festival, seemed to host one of the most active dialogues in LA10 so far regarding the festival's role, and the form that it manifests was contemplated strongly in its tenth year. Liquid Architecture began in Melbourne and understandably the 'product' of the festival and its individual model seemed the most fully formed in its city of origin.
CONCERTS ONE AND TWO
The two concerts at the Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall were divided curatorially into firstly, an evening of intent and focussed listening, and secondly, an event featuring actively performative and audio-visual works. On the first night performances were given by Asmus Tietchens, Anthea Caddy and Thembi Soddell, Jason Kahn, Kontakt der Jünglinge and Perlonex. Different placements of performers (and subsequently different modes of listening) were employed, with artists amongst the audience, behind the audience and out of sight, as well as on stage and framed within a clear divide with the spectators.
The second concert presented David Shea and Kristi Monfries, Thomas Köner, Plump and was opened by Adam Simmons and Mark Cauvin performing Syd Clayton's Yehudi. The consideration of space used in the previous concert was taken further on the second night with Plump's (Dave Brown, Philip Samartzis, Marc Rogerson) large room-sized instrument occupying much of the hall. Spectators became immersed in the physicality of the sculpture, a presence that was livened by the performance of Brown, Samartzis and Rogerson. The construction consisted of an expansive sprawl of organic pods along the floor, lit electrically by Marc Rogerson during the performance. A web of metal pipes and wiring spun out from the high ceilings; an impressive installation with a wide array of sonic characteristics. Dave Brown's scraping, bowing, and rattling of the instrument created a captivating energy that seamlessly melded with the delicate volume-shaping of field recordings and electronics by Philip Samartzis. One got the sense of not just a performance, but of a physical presence coming to life.
STATED SOUND
For the community of regular attendees, perhaps some of the most interesting events were those at the periphery of the Arts House concerts. STATED SOUND, a forum organised by the RMIT University student collective Within Earshot, hosted a panel consisting of Caleb Kelly (chair; Sydney based sound event organiser), Philip Samartzis (sound artist, academic), Annalee Koernig (organiser of Stutter sound nights), Jon Dale (critic) and Nat Bates (founding director of Liquid Architecture). Many issues were raised in what became a particularly heated polemic involving as much the members of the audience as the panel. The current natures of the various sound and music scenes in Australia were discussed somewhat; however fresh after the first Melbourne Liquid Architecture concert, members of the audience took the opportunity to begin a critical dialogue about the festival (its philosophy and programming), and share concerns and feedback in an active critical exchange. It was a useful and engaging forum for a discussion of exploratory sound practices; this is a dialogue that certainly exists quite fruitfully amongst artists, though often not in a documented sense. The forum was recorded and will hopefully become accessible for future recollection.INFINITE MUSIC MACHINE
Dale Gorfinkel, Rosalind Hall, and Peter Blamey's Infinite Music Machine is a large installation of sonorous found objects. Ping pong balls, polystyrene cups, electric motors, string and many other materials are strewn across West Space. The intimate gallery, with rugs and pillows lying about, presented an engaging space for sonic exploration on Saturday. Performing two improvised sets, the artists made use of these various musical contraptions along with Gorfinkel's modified trumpet and Hall's saxophone. The performance made a terrifically active use of the space, developing a music trajectory whilst maintaining a highly exploratory and playful nature. The true immersion of the audience within the artists' sound sculpture created an intimate and enjoyable level of engagement.Image above: Kontakt der Jünglinge
