Sound Symposium XXI Day 2
Rick Bailey. Photo by Terry Day
Rick Bailey kicked off the second day of the symposium with a workshop on improvising with generative music at the Lawnya Vawnya headquarters. In the workshop notes, generative music is described as “music that is ever-different and changing, and created by a system”, and was originally coined as a term to itself by ambient pioneer Brian Eno. Bailey walked spectators though the philosophy and composition of such music, it’s history, and modern ways of creating this music that “creates itself, morphing and moving on it’s own”, including software like Wotja, Pure Data, and Nodal 2.0
Later that morning, Canadian New Music Network led a discussion surrounding the dynamic between artists, organizations, the ongoing climate emergency, and the possibility of a sustainable future in the midst of such. In addition to discussion points such the impact of climate on music due to shifting language and policies as well as the role of music and sound organizations on climate awareness, participants discussed issues of their own including job security, the question of colonization within artistic spheres, and the dynamic between individual responsibility within the framework of massive governmental and corporate structures.
Robyn Love performs “Madwoman” at the LSPU Hall. Photo by Chad Feehan
Robyn Love gave the first of two Sound Symposium performances of “Madwoman” at the LSPU Hall amidst a wall sculpture of maritime ropes and mirrors, and projections of coastline scenes and Love’s very own likeness. Enrobed in a seaweed-laden, skeletal white cage that was all draped in a sheer white dress, Love walked in circular patterns throughout the room, emitting the sounds of shaking shells as she meandered in and out of the projector glare. As the performance progressed, her movements would become faster and more erratic, often making beckoning motions at the audience, though all were stationary at the periphery of the room.
Also at the LSPU Hall, Parisa Sabet introduced her multi-media composition Silent, an eight minute video of dance, music, and art that depicts “the feelings of an emotionally, physically oppressed woman struggling for change.” In Silent, a dancer dressed in a white bodysuit struggles and contorts under the oppression of a large red sheet, never truly able to free herself of it. Eventually images of fire, electricity, and flowers are projected onto her and the backdrop, while the refrain “Even more, one can remain silent” is oft uttered throughout an emotive feminist diatribe.
In a solitary piece of movement and music, Sarah Joy Stoker taped herself into a white box in the middle of the black stage, moving through an endless number of contortions over the course of Elling Lien’s brooding, dubby, industrial electronic compositions. Sometimes subdued, sometimes erratic, all her movements were confined to the spatial limitations of the square she found herself in. Through this piece Stoker “travels with her rage and grief over the continuing devastation, exploitation and extraction being done to our world”.
Dancer Marissa Wong of Falling Company at the LSPU Hall. Photo by Greg Locke
Keeping in line with the evenings curation of expressive dance, Jamie Bradbury, Jared Davis, and The Falling Company presented Coalesce, a piece composed of thumping electronic music, layered visual projections, and improvised, inspired dance. Dancer Marissa Wong noted that their limited time spent collaborating together allowed for the group to navigate tension and release in real time. As the energy of the music rose and fell, the trio took turns with audio, visual, and kinetic responsibilities, all interpreting the situation in their own ways at any given moment.
The second day of Sound Symposium culminated at The Ship later that night as Duane Andrews, Graham Wells, James Hurley and Romano Di Nillo took the stage as HmmmmH. The group put fresh twists and expressive embellishments on locally loved trad favourites such as “Now I’m 64”, “Cape St. Mary’s”, among a host of others. Though there was absolutely no room to dance these famously danceable songs, the audience was as captive as could be as these four veterans virtuosically made their way through the set in a true marriage of Sound Symposium and Folk Night spirit.