The Profound Art of Being a 'Loser'

‘I have a one track mind—that’s all I am interested in, is Love’
—John Cassavetes

John Cassavetes directed a film called ‘Husbands’, which is the film I would like to write about seeing as the great acting triumvirate has now passed away with the death of Ben Gazzara the last actor to have survived, died from cancer last month.

‘Husbands’ was directed at a time when the feminist movement was in full swing a brave man to have pitched a movie purely about the male ego in pursuit of its own issues into this feminist revolution—he was not wrong to have made this film at that particular point for a feminist movement that rarely discussed men's role in their debate. ‘Husbands’ posits just that question. What was men's role in relationships?

This film deeply investigates this problem of male and female separation. ‘Husbands’ almost goes so far as to say long term relationships are an unhappy and difficult experience especially in the hypocrital and devoid backdrop of suburbia which John Cassavetes often sets his films. It is in essence a film about the male search for the meaning of life and the definition of love, triggered by the death of their also middle aged male friend.

Archie (Peter Falk), Gus (John Cassavetes) and Harry (Ben Gazzara) are all married men, the opening sequence of the film shows these married men in many 70’s yellow colored snap shot images of family gatherings by the pool, lazy Sunday barbeques, group portraits of them with their wives, drinking beer and looking pleased with themselves. The opening sequence sets up the pre-amble to the truth of this film it goes on to then show us what that truth is which is relationships are not simple or easy—love is not simple or easy, it is awkward full of lovely moments and equally awful times.

From this happy opening sequence then to the scene at the cemetery and the burial of the fourth man that made up their happy four man group. Archie, Gus and Harry are stunned and have come to the realization that they are on their own path to death being men who are in the descent of their lives.

Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara and John Cassavetes

So starts the 4-day drinking bender beginning in NY City ending up in London. This regression back into teenage hood (but with bank accounts) see’s them tooling around NY city playing basketball, swimming, drinking beer with strangers and pushing every situation to the limits of awkwardness in order to find some meaning. Not wanting the experience of this stream of escapisms to end, they all decide to take a trip to London to live out the rest of the bender in style at a classy hotel and manage to pick up several good-looking girls from the casino.

It would be very easy to just on first viewing to consider this film a boy’s own adventure which only illustrate the irresponsibility of men but Cassavetes was after something deeper. This film is about discussing feelings of failure in men and honest look at how to deal with these feelings. It asks the ultimate question which has plagued film since its inception: what is love? how does one make it work?

Like most of Cassvetes films he is not afraid to look at these often embarrassing moments that every human experiences—male or female. He has often admitted that he has intentionally wanted to place many of his actors outside of their comfort zones in situations where they are most likely to expose something awkward but honest—stripping people of the false image that may have about themselves and the world.

‘These guys don’t just want to get by in life. They want to live. I don’t really know what ‘Husbands’ is about at this point. You could say it’s about three married guys who want something for themselves. They don’t know what they want, but they get scared when their best friend dies. Or you could say it is about three men that are in search of love and don’t know how to attain it. Every scene in the picture will be our opinions about sentiment. I try to talk to the actors and try to find out what I really think about sentiment. It may turn harsh or bitter; but I can allow anything as long as I know we are honest’

John Cassavetes

Cassavetes on Cassavetes

‘Husbands’ is exactly about doing just that but from the male perspective, it doesn’t hide any of men’s ugly faults and within that honest portrayal we get some real understanding of why relationships have moments of failure or success, it allows a proper discussion to exist about male-female relationships and exposes the damage that men can do, much in the same way that his other film ‘A Women under the Influence’ did from the female perspective.

The most telling of this truth is in the end scenes when Archie (Peter Falk) and Gus (John Cassavetes) on the return trip home (Harry played by Ben Gazzara, not wanting the illusion to end, stays on in London) at the airport feels reality descending and in a guilty frenzy starts buying toys for their children, as a remedy to what they know is in store for them when they get home. These toys are the superficial band-aid to the dysfunction.

The end scene is the most heartbreaking visual representation of what can be the resulting damage, as Gus clutches 2 large paper bags filled with these 'guilt' toys—he see’s his young daughter and then comes the moment, this reality of the life he has with his children and his wife comes down hard on him—looking lost and abandoned his small child comes stumbling down the driveway and on seeing her absent father spontaneously bursts into tears, this fragile realization is then soften by his son who yells ‘Dad! Oh booooy! You’re in trouble! Maaaa Dad’s home...’ and thus this life goes on.

Xan Cassavetes playing his daughter in 'Husbands'

John Cassavetes: Acting Technique and Structure

 

Lists 2012

FILMS & TV

Melancholia LARS VON TRIER (never thought I would have him on my list)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams WERNER HERZOG  
Mildred Peirce HBO mini-series TODD HAYNES
Bigger than Life NICHOLAS RAY
Boardwalk Empire HBO mini-series TERENCE WINTER & MARTIN SCORSESE

 

 












MUSIC
The Smile Sessions BEACH BOYS 
Flect II UCHIHASHI KAZUHISA
Tilt SCOTT WALKER
The BBC Sessions SANDY DENNY
Soothing Sounds for Baby RAYMOND SCOTT

 















BOOKS
NO thanks! not at the moment. I have 2 children under 5 months... although I have been sporadically looking at 'After Photography' by FRED RICTHIN

RIP Ben Gazzara

CCP–Ruang Mes56: Contemporary Photography from Indonesia

Ruang Mes56: Contemporary Photography from Indonesia
Centre for Contemporary Photography—Melbourne, Australia
Opening: 27 October 2011
Friday 28 October to Sunday 11 December 2011.
Artists/curators' talk: 12noon, Saturday 29 October
www.ccp.org.au
http://mes56.com

Agan Harahap
Angki Purbandono
Wimo Ambala Bayang
Jim Allen Abel
Akiq AW
Curated by Kristi Monfries and Georgie Sedgwick

Agan Harahap
Jl.Zambrud Rsaya no 28- 2 (2010)

For the last 10 years, as a collective, Ruang Mes56 has been using artistic practices to respond to the changes occurring within their rapidly expanding nation, Indonesia.  Primarily working in the medium of photography, these artists have been developing their work collectively and as individuals to create visual representations of different aspects of Indonesian contemporary culture and its constantly shifting realities. Their work as a whole offers insights into the fast paced move from third world to developing nation and the concerns and issues they face as a generation responsible for their own future - a future vision, shaped in part by the images that they have created.

Jim Allen Abel
Rastra Sewakottama (2011)

The works presented in Ruang Mes56: Contemporary Photography from Indonesia are by five of the Ruang Mes56 artists stable: Wimo Ambala Bayang, Akiq AW, Agan Harahap, Angki Purbandono and Jim Allen Abel.

The works traverse a range of contemporary issues facing Indonesians.  Jim Allen Abel’s work is a visual deconstruction of authority through the symbol of the uniform, utilising performance art practices, action and awkwardness. Agan Harahap’s unique and playful anthropomorphic images questions Indonesian cultural attitudes towards the domination of the natural world over the man made world. Angki Purbandono’s disturbing and ironic ‘fashion book’ looks at outsider fashions styles of the homeless and forgotten on the streets of Yogyakarta and Jakarta. Wimo Ambala Bayang’s work comments on the prevalence of ancient Javanese mythologies which are manifest in sacred Javanese sites and objects and continue to inform contemporary political and cultural discourse. Finally,  Akiq AW’s  work explores the visual semiotics of space through the ordering of colour and shapes, resulting in a highly coded series of images that try to make sense of a landscape and a country that is by nature chaotic.

Mes56 is at the forefront of the contemporary photography movement in Indonesia, a scene that while young is attracting the attention of the local and international community alike for its fresh take on the medium as well as the insights they offer in to contemporary Indonesian society as it shapes and is shaped by our increasingly globalised world.

Angki Purbandono
Beyond Versace (2011) 

Installation at the CCP

Senyawa Tour: Interview with jogjanews.com

Wawancara Kristi Monfries: Senyawa Menjadi Pilihan Jelas
Juni 4th, 2011
(scroll down for English version)

Kristi Monfries berhasil membawa duo Senyawa (Wukir Suryadi dan Rully Herman Sabhara) mengikuti Australian Odyssey Tour Music di beberapa kota besar di Australia yaitu Brisbane, Sidney dan Melbourne.

Berikut wawancara Jogjanews.com dan music organizer The Volcanic Winds Project ini mengenai Senyawa’s Australian Odyssey Tour Music, apa manfaat  yang bisa diraih Senyawa serta pihak yang bisa menghadirkan Senyawa di Australian Odyssey Tour Music.

Jogjanews.com: Mengapa Kristi memilik Senyawa untuk mengikutu SENYAWA Australian Odyssey Tour Music?

Kristie Monfries: Saya sebenarnya tidak memilih Senyawa, mereka memilik diri mereka sendiri. Hahahaha. Saya tahu itu terdengar abstrak tapi yang saya ingin sampaikan adalah Senyawa menjadi pilihan yang jelas.

Setelah melihat mereka bermain menjadi bagiaan dari acara Cobra pada Festival Tropis/Subsonics, sebuah acara musik yang saya kuratori, sepertinya mereka ditakdirkan untuk mengunjungi Australia dan berkolaborasi dengan komunitas musik eksperimental disana.

Saya kira juga lebih kepada kemampuan dan keinginan tahuan pribadi mereka dimana mereka sebelumnya sudah menciptakan hubungan dan kolaborasi yang penuh arti dengan beberapa seniman Australia yang berkunjung  (di Jogja ) yang artinya mereka sudah menguatkan nama mereka sendiri sebagai entitas yang diketahui komunitas di Australia. Mereka punya fans Australia bahkan sebelum mereka mengikuti tour.

Di samping karena kedekatan secara personal, saya kira waktunya sudah tepat, ada sedikit rasa bosan dalam komunitas musik yang lebih ‘avant garde-eksperimental’ tidak hanya di Australia, tetapi juga di Eropa dan Amerika.

Tampaknya saat ini ada kesadaran untuk mencari bentuk baru dari musik dan modifikasi instrument yang saya kira menjelaskan keinginan yang meningkat untuk melihat lebih jauh mengenai musik tradisi Asia, Afrika dan Amerika  Selatan terutama musisi yang terbuka pada eksperimentasi antara tradisional dan eksperimental seperti Senyawa.  Tempat ini, Australia dan Indonesia secar geografis berada dalam posisi sempurna untuk mengeksplorasi pendekatan baru ini.

Sebagai organizer, apa tugas Kristi dalam tour musik SENYAWA Australian Odyssey?

Sebagaimana penata seni/kurator seni yang lain yang setuju, ini terutama mengenai mencari kombinasi waktu yang sempurna dalam usaha untuk membuka perspektif dan pendekatan baru pada seni kemudian pasangan ini berusaha mendapatkan pengalaman pribadi untuk semua pihak yang terlibat.
Tentu saja ini berbeda ketika bekerja dengan musik karena pengalaman waktu yang hadir akan berbeda tapi yang jelas ini tentang menghadirkan perlakuan dari apa yang seniman ciptakan menemukan persamaan lalu menciptakan situasi dimana mereka bisa menjalani-waktunya tepat bagi Senyawa untuk mengikuti tour.

Saya juga harus menambahkan bahwa ini jelas  tentang bnanal dan kebosanan, pekerjaan seperti mengatur visa dan merencanakan tiket-menjadi semacam travel agent yang kreatif.

Bisa tidak Kristi menjelaskan keistimewaan dari event-event musik yang diikuti Senyawa selama ikut tur musik di Australia?

Semua event yang mengundang Senyawa untuk bermain mulai dari Brisbane, Sydney lalu Melbourne adalah dengan organisasi dan orang-orang yang memiliki sejarah panjang dalam menciptakan dan mengembangkan event seni di Australia.

Dimana tidak hanya termasuk musik eksperimental tapi juga film, seni rupa sehingga pada intinya mereka akan bermain untuk penonton yang lebih luas dan untuk orang-orang yang mempunyai ketrampilan dalam praktik yang berbeda-beda.

Akan sangat  menarik untuk melihat respon, dimana saya sangat yakin, akan sangat besar sisi positifnya karena sudah jelas bahwa apa yang diciptakan Senyawa benar-benar segar dan berbeda.
Siapa-siapa saja musisi yang ikut dalam tour musik Australian Oddysey? Sejauh mana mereka punya reputasi?

Ada banyak musisi misalnya saja Joel Stern serta Lucas Abela, dimana Senyawa akan bermain atau berbagi panggung sehingga dengan begitu  untuk memberi nama mereka semua.

Tapi saya kira, dalam konteks internasional kepentingan sejarah, mereka adalah artist yang berbagai panggung pada Festival Overground pada Melbourne Internasional Jazz Festival 2011.

Artist seperti Charlemagne Palestina dan Tony Conrad yang bukan artist tuan rumah tapi di dalam dunia seni suara mereka memiliki pengaruh sangat besar pada banyak musisi dan seniman kontemporer untuk pendekatan awal dan radikal bermusik lalu drone music, dimana dapat kita dengar pada banyak eksperimentasi musik Black Metal saat ini dan juga scenes computer atau laptop pada awal-awal abad ini.

Ada juga Yoshida Tatsuya dari The Ruins yang begitu besar mempengaruhi gaya musik Rully Herman  Shabara. Jadi saya kira untuk Rully pribadi, ini akan menjadi kilas balik. Senyawa juaga akan bermain sebelum FAUST, band untuk penghormatan yang mengawali terciptanya The Kraut Rock Sound, dengan gaya sample memotong paling awal yang juga memiliki banyak fans termasuk Sonic Youth.
Bagi Senyawa sendiri, apa yang bisa mereka dapatkan dari tour musik  Senyawa Australian Oddysey ini?

Ada banyak hal yang bisa didapatkan untuk dua belah dari dua benua dan kepulauan ini. Hal krusial ada bahwa ini akan diharapkan saling terbukanya dialog jangka panjang antara musisi Australia dan Indonesia melalui eksposure dari Senyawa- kepada juga membantu mendorong meningkatnya keingintahuan untuk sesuatu yang baru yang bisa diciptakan.

Saya kira juga secara personal untuk Senyawa, bisa muncul dihadapan musisi yang saya sebutkan sebelumnya di Melbourne International Jazz Festival akan memperpanjang kerja hidup mereka sebagai seniman yang bisa berarti lebih banyak tour musik internasional yang diikuti serta lebih banyak kesempatan untuk berbagi idea pada skala yang lebih internasional.

Bagaimana reputasi Melbourne International Jazz Festival?

Melbourne International Jazz Festival selama dua tahun ini telah menghasilkan banyak kerja yang begitu mengagumkan. Saya kira hal ini terutama terkait pada visi Sophie Brous, manager program yang telah bekerja selama dua tahun hingga saat ini dan masih muda (24 tahun), sebagai individu, ia sangat cocok dalam  scene musik  saat ini tapi juga di film dan seni rupa, dia juga sekolah di tradisi old jazz yang membawa pada perhatian pada apa yang dimaksudkan dengan tradisi pada hari dan era saat ini.

Hasil dari dari festival ini adalah festival yang menghadirkan penampilan master jazz masa kini yang berdampingan dengan more avant garde tradision, dengan fokus yang sangat intent pada penampil lokal juga, dimana sekarang sepertinya termasuk Indonesia! Melbourne International Jazz Festival saat ini salah satu festival paling popular di Australia yang biasanya dihadiri sekitar 100.000 orang.

Silakan memberi keterangan tambahan yang belum ada dalam wawancara ini?

Saya hanya ingin memberi tahu tanpa latar belakang kerja dari YES NO KLUB yang terdiri dari Wok the Rok (Yes No Wave) dan Tim O’Donoghue (Performance Klub), apa yang sekarang sedang berlangsung (Senyawa mengikuti Australian Odissey Tour Music) saat ini tidak akan selancar yang saat ini sedang terjadi.

Mereka telah membantu pave the way untuk tour music ini untuk mengukur dan juga menjadi partner hampir semua event yang dilakukan The Volcanic Winds Project.

Saya juga ingin menyampaikan terima kasih kepada Kate Ben Tovim sebagai produser The Volcanic Winds Project dan telah menjadi partner kerja saya meramu proyek ini termasuk Senyawa’s Australian Oddysey. (Jogjanews.com/joe)

 -------------> English Version

Mengapa Kristi memilik Senyawa untk  SENYAWA Australian Odyssey?

I didn’t really choose Senyawa they chose themselves, hahaha. 

I know that’s abstract but what I mean is they were such an obvious choice. After seeing them play as part of the COBRA event at TROPIS///SUBSONICS FESTIVAL a music event that I curated, it seemed they were destined to make the trip to Australia and collaborate with the experimental music communities there.

I think also much to their credit and personal curiosity they themselves had already formed relationships and meaningful collaborations with past visiting Australian artists to the point that had already established themselves a known entity to the community in Australia. They had Australian fans before they even left to go on tour.

Aside from the personal ties I think the timing was right, there is somewhat a sense of boredom in the more ‘experimental avant-garde’ music communities not just in Australia but also in Europe and America.

There seems to be now a conscious search for new forms of music and also instrument modification which I think explains the increasing interest towards SE Asian, Africa and South American music traditions especially musicians that are open to experimentation between the traditional and experimental like Senyawa. This places Australia and Indonesia geographically in a perfect position to explore these new approaches.

Sebagai organizer, apa tugas Kristi dalam tour musik SENYAWA Australian Odyssey?

As any arts organizer/arts curator would agree, its mainly about finding the perfect timely combinations in order to open up new perspectives and approaches to art then attempt to further couple this with a personal rewarding experience for everyone involved.

Of course its different when working within music because the experience of time is different but ultimately its about picking up on the threads of what artists are creating finding the commonalities then create situations where they can thrive—the time was right for Senyawa to go on tour.

I also have to add that it’s definitely about the banal and boring, jobs like organizing visas and planet tickets—being a kind of creative travel agent.

Bisa tidak Kristi menjelaskan keistimewaan dari event-event musik yang diikuti Senyawa selama ikut tur musik di Aussie?

All the events that they have been invited to play from Brisbane, Sydney to Melbourne are with organizations and people who have a long history in creating and establishing arts events in Australia.

Which not only include experimental music but also film and visual arts, so essentially they will be playing to a very broad audience and to people that have their hands in many different practices. It will be interesting to see the response which I am sure, will be hugely positive because its obvious what Senyawa are making is so fresh and different.

Siapa-siapa saja musisi yang ikut dalam tour musik Australian Oddysey? Sejauh mana mereka punya reputasi?

There are so many musicians like for instance Joel Stern and Lucas Abela, that Senyawa will be playing or sharing a stage with that its hard to name them all. But I guess in terms of international and historical importance it would have to be the artists they will be sharing a stage with at the OVERGROUND Festival at the Melbourne Jazz Festival.

Such as Charlemagne Palestine and Tony Conrad, which are not household names but in the world of sound art they are hugely influential on many contemporary artists and musicians for their early and radical approaches to drone music, which you can hear in a lot of experimental black metal music now and also the computer/laptop scenes of the early part of this century.

There is also Yoshida Tatsuya from The Ruins who is a huge influence on Rully’s musical style so I think for him personally, that will be a highlight. Senyawa will also be playing just before FAUST a band attributed with pioneering the Kraut Rock sound, with early cut up sample styles and who’s many fans include Sonic Youth.

Bagi Senyawa sendiri, apa yang bisa mereka dapatkan dari tour musik  Senyawa Australian Oddysey ini?

There is a lot to be gained on both sides of this continent and this archepelgo. The crucial thing is that it will hopefully up open up a long term dialog between the musicians in Australia and Indonesia through the exposure of Senyawa—to also help push an existing curiosity in order for something new to be created. I think also personally for Senyawa being exposed to those musicians I mentioned before at Melbourne Jazz Festival will further their life’s work as artists which could mean more international touring and more opportunity to share ideas on a more international scale.

Bagaimana reputasi Melbourne International Jazz Festival?

Melbourne Jazz festival the last 2 years has produced really amazingly diverse work, the curatorial approach to the program is actually quite genius. I think this mainly due the vision of Sophie Brous, the program manager who has been in the job for 2 years now and is still young (24 years old), as an individual she is incredibly tapped into what is current not only in the music scene but in film and the visual arts, she was also schooled in the old jazz traditions which lends an appreciation to what that tradition may mean in this day and era.

The results are from this cocktail is a festival that has the current Jazz masters perform along side the more avant-garde traditions, with a very intense focus on local performers as well, which now seems to include Indonesia! The Festival now is one of the most popular festivals in Australia usually with around 100,000 people in attendance.

Silakan memberi keterangan tambahan yang belum ada dalam pertanyaan saya?

I just want to acknowledge without the background work of YES NO KLUB which is Wok the Rok (YES No WAVE) and Tim O’Donoghue (Performance Klub) a lot of what is happening now would not have been as smooth as it has been. They have been helping pave the way for this tour to occur and were also partners in most all the events done by The Volcanic Winds Project. I want to also publicly thank Kate Ben Tovim who is the producer of The Volcanic Winds Project and has been my partner in crime when concocting these projects including SENYAWA’s AUSTRALIAN ODDYSEY.

Uniform Code by Jim Allen Abel

This new work by Jim Allen Abel is a critical analysis of the current power systems inherent in Indonesian contemporary society using the medium of photography and performance art.

Power and systems of power were and still are an important institutionalised part of life in Indonesia. Since the fall of Suharto many aspects of society have opened up avenues for critical analysis in the media and to some extent pulled apart existing bureaucracies however many systems are still inherent in much of Indonesian life today.

Jim Allen Abel new series System Reject is a sequel to his previous work Uniform Series. This new body of work is an attempt to destroy these institutionalised structures, employing the methods of performance art—he presents a series of photos to express an action in an attempt to negate these systems.

Documentation of time has been and is photography’s main conceptual reason for existing. Using the medium as a way to prove or capture that a moment, place or person existed, has been expressed in multiple ways by many different artists including performance artists. Performance artists have used this medium as an archival extension of their work and then later as the work itself.

There are many examples of this—one pivotal image was Yves Klein’s 1960 piece Le Saut dans le Vide of him jumping off a wall onto some unknown street which also symbolised the void. A tension is present whether the image is real or montaged—whoever views this photo-still has an uneasy feeling that an accident is about to happen.

These ‘photo actions’ by Jim Allen Abel presents a series of visual critiques of authoritarian power structures using the symbols of the axe and the object. Awkwardness is one of the key focuses, using tension as the avenue to strip the objects of their symbolised power—a table, the place where most decisions are made or a bench where school children sit. The provocateur in each image is wearing a uniform from various organizations and institutions such as a police uniform, an office worker, a parking attendant and the military.

Uniforms are often very effective ways to erase the individual and employing the image of the uniform in these photos is a rebellion against the system by the people who work within that system—the faces are also covered by something trivial and silly in a further attempt to ridicule what power maybe left.

Each image presented here is a moment in time that is at its most awkward and tense just before the axe drops and the moment just before the uniform person falls and has an accident with possible injury—there is an unease and a lame uncomfortableness that comes from the intense effort made by the masked uniformed person. Symbolising the danger that these power systems create when one is acting to destroy it—there is always a threat and risk to personal safety in the attempt.

These images are all metaphors for political struggle and anarchistic rebellion which is a way to deal with personal history and experience of living in a society which still has a hangover from a time when authority and military dictatorships were the norm.

Tropis///Subsonics

http://tropisubsonics.tumblr.com

Mix and Match Mayhem: COBRA
Saturday 5 February 2011

Sound/Image/Image/Sound
Sunday 6 February, 2011
Yogyakarta, Indonesia

 

The article below is by Gina Xing about the experimental music festival I curated in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I have always been interested in music and its relationship to visual arts practice, music that is often considered difficult or not for entertainment is the most fascinating.

Throughout visual arts practice there has always been an intimate relationship with the compositional structures of music. It is well documented for example in the Dada movement—Marcel Duchamp's Erratum musical chance pieces (www.forcedexposure.com/artists/duchamp.marcel.html), fluxus artist Nam June Paik's sound explorations and modernist composers such as Shostakovich and especially Stravinsky's compositions whose immediate influence can be seen in George Balachine's painterly choreographic work Agon.

Almost always if you follow musical practices that are on the edge or outer rims of society you can often see quite clearly where most visual arts streams (which includes fashion) are leading too. English punk in Vivienne Westwood's designs, the current explorations of drone music mysticism cropping up as visual arts curatorial themes and Norwegian black metal's influence on current fashion.

Its always rewarding to forage the outer rims and find the rhizomic connections that are inherent in all arts practices.

This Project was made possible by ASIALINK, The Australia Council, Australian Indonesia Institute and Yes No Klub, Yogyakarta.

A TRIP TO A NEW MUSIC SPHERE
by Gina Xing

When it comes to the creation of sound, there’s no limit to what can be done.

Starting today in Yogyakarta, the avant-garde music adventure Tropis///Subsonics aims to take audiences to a new musical sphere that breaks through their conventional ideas about music.

The one-week event, Tropis///Subsonics, draws musicians from across Australia and Indonesia to the thriving art scene of Yogyakarta to share different processes in sound experimentation, Kristi Monfries, the event organizer told The Jakarta Post recently.

The unconventional event hosts programs ranging from talks, workshops, performances showcasing different approaches to combining moving image and sound. One of the open workshops will focus on COBRA, a musical game piece created in the early 1980s by New York musician John Zorn.

Talks on the sampling and remixing culture will be conducted by well-respected musicians David Shea, Oren Ambarchi, Robbie Avenaim and Robin Fox who have come from Australia to meet local musicians.

Local artists Wukir, Rully Shabara, Sonyy Irawan were invited to present their work, which blends Indonesian traditional sound elements with modern technology.

Piano solo singer Frau Leilani will also be performing at the event, along with these edgy music adventurers. Leilani expressed her interests in collaborating with artists from all backgrounds and said this event would “enhance her ability to improvise”.

The event will do more than just provide an open platform for artists to collaborate and inspire each other. “The word subsonics means a sub-frequency of sound that flies below the radar. So it reflects upon music that is not always accepted but exists in a way to effect change on a subtle level”, said Kristi. “Experimentation in sound is not often seen in mainstream music but is often heavily borrowed from,” she added.

Ownership of intellectual property in Indonesian culture has been an ongoing issue. David Shea, a senior lecturer at the Victoria College of Arts in Melbourne will be discussing the issue in his talk. The well-respected sampling artist has stressed the dominating role of the new music genre in his previous speech. “Attitudes toward technology, ownership of material and works of collage will continue to be the determinant of the direction of employment in 21st century,” said Shea.

 On the other hand, many artists in the field of music experimentation struggle to gain recognition, for some even in the underground scene. Wok, co-host of the event, from internet music label company Yes No Club, pointed out that experimental music in the past had not been widely accepted or appreciated in this country.

“Experimental music events in Indonesia are very rare… we hope this event will inspire everyone attending the event to start a band with a new musical direction…For local artists it’s an opportunity to be known in the experimental music world,” explained Wok.

Local artists argue their music is mostly inspired by traditional culture. "Using traditional music or ethnic influences and integrating them with an avant-garde spirit is something I’ve always been working on with my original band, Zoo”, said vocalist Rully Shabara who believes participating will be a rewarding challenge for him, being the only vocalist for the ensemble.

As a fellow friend of experimental musician Wukir, Rully holds a fair deal of optimism for Wukir and his music’s future.

“Introducing ethnic experimental music to an ‘underground’ crowd, which is typically into progression and innovation, certainly can bring his name up to the surface,” said Rully.

Wukir, who created BambuWukir through his deep search of “ethnic experimental” music, explained collaboration with artists that are cultural wise and accepting, was important.

“I want someone who can appreciate my culture so we can learn from each other,” said Wukir. He believes artists local governments or media don’t show appreciation for can be well received outside their country.

When asked what it was like being an experimental musician, Wukir humorosly put it this way: “It feels hot like sambal terasi [a spicy shrimp taste from East Java].” He went on to say: “I prefer the word experimental noise.”

Using a variety of instrument from modified drum kits, sampler-based works, computer-generated music, laser lights, fog machines and video projection, these highly experienced musicians will present a fascinating look at how sound can engage and converse with moving image.

Taken from The Jakarta Post article:
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/29/a-trip-a-new-music-sphere.html

http://tropisubsonics.tumblr