BLACK BOX SERIES #2 - feat. Club Sound Witches, Chun Yin Rainbow Chan, and Alexandra Spence
Wednesday 26th July - 6-8pm - Black Box, UNSW Art & Design, Greens Rd, Paddington
This second of a series of bi-monthly events curated by members of UNSW’s Sound, Energies and Environments group features live performances from Club Sound Witches, Chun Yin Rainbow Chan and Alexandra Spence. Showcasing a diverse range of artists, the early evening performance-focused events present exciting new and experimental works from both emerging, established, local and visiting artists engaged in the expanded domain of contemporary sound practice.
Chun Yin Rainbow Chan
Ode to Doctored Dumplings - The discourse around China’s ascent to a global power has relied heavily on the circulation of myths and stories. A popular theme in this discussion is the prevalence of China’s faked goods and counterfeit products. China’s adoption of capitalism at break-neck speed, whilst maintaining socialism, has created profound disjunctures in production, market regulations and consumption. With a focus on fake food, this performance will explore the current state of public distrust towards the government, business owners and the media.
Chun Yin Rainbow Chan works across music, performance and installation. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Sydney, Chan is interested in duality, diaspora and the effects of globalisation on modern Chinese society. Her research engages with the authentic and the copy, exploring sites of exchange and desire that complicate Western notions of originality and appropriate consumption.https://soundcloud.com/cyrchan
Club Sound Witches
More like Terry Riley than Flume, Club sound witches don’t have a strict set, each performance being unique. Improvising with temperamental equipment their sound tests patience with the profound. Their mess of cables and unpredictable, abstract sounds try to recreate a feeling of true inclusiveness.
Club Sound Witches - Nicola Morton and Matt Earle - are the Laurel and Hardy of the Sydney underground techno scene - aiming for the abstract sublime but often fraught with comic error. They have a number of tape releases in though labels in UK, Australia, Russia and USA. Nicola holds a B. Music degree from Queensland Conservatorium and a MFA from Sydney College of Arts and Matt has a Bachelor of Electronic Arts from UWS.
Alexandra Spence
Alex’s performances are electroacoustic and improvised utilising noise, silence, subtlety and unusual sound sources to create ambient and minimalist soundscape environments. Sound sources may include: computer, field recordings, cassette players, tape loops, feedback, sine tones, voice, clarinet, no-input mixer, radio, objects, live airtraffic control feed, electromagnetic coil pick-ups, and contact microphones.
Alexandra Spence is a sound artist/musician. Alex is interested in the idea of listening as an active practice. Her work favours subtlety, quietude and unusual sound sources. Alex has performed and presented sound installations, compositions and performances in concerts, festivals, symposiums and galleries in Australia, Canada, and Europe, and is a recent graduate of the MFA Interdisciplinary Arts program at Simon Fraser University, CA. http://alexandraspence.net/Destroy-Vancouver & https://soundcloud.com/alexandraspence
Black Box Series is funded by ARC and affiliated with UNSW Art & Design’s Sound, Energies and Environments research group.