Brisbane Powerhouse - Fri Jul 3 & Sat Jul 4

Two flights above the chilled Brisbane River breeze and a bustling Powerhouse bar we’re welcomed warmly into the darkened Rooftop Terrace by the benevolent Room40 curator and host Lawrence English; he’s clearly proud to help celebrate the nation’s premier sound art festival’s tenth birthday in such a distinguished style.

All the lights go down for local artist Joel Stern’s dark sojourn into an otherworldly sound-scape of ominous wails, cassette tape loops and circuited modulation. His second piece conjures a nightmarish vision of hypnosis and sensory deprivation with a flashing strobe amplified and timed for maximum aural and visual impact.

Lighting the room spiritually, and literally, German electro-acoustic adventurers Perlonex at first resemble a conventional band, however Ignaz Schick’s use of found objects on a spinning turntable and Burkhard Beins’ unique percussive approach to the drums sets the record straight. Together with Joerg Maria Zeger’s heavily affected guitars, the trio weave complex tonal patterns into a delightful temporal tapestry and we break with plenty to talk about.

We’ve been warned to wear earplugs for Jason Kahn’s solo set, although it takes a while for the Swiss-based artist to find the reverberating sweet-spot. He levitates a variety of objects over a single floor tom, sending the resulting hums through a veritable bank of effects, all patched live in front of our eyes.

German collaborators Kontakt der Jünglinge close the evening with a distinctly cinematic offering; Asmus Tietchens and Thomas Köner represent two generations in electronic art and it shows in not only their varied use of technology, but their distinct sound ranges.

Asmus Tietchens opens the second night to a larger audience with a refined solo composition that is equal parts vast and claustrophobic; the audience sprawls across the floor, most with eyes closed, soaking in the precious minutes of dystopian ecstasy.

Performing a specially commissioned piece titled Liquid Architects, the distinguished husband and wife team of David Shea and Kristi Monfries present a pastiche of Liquid Architecture history, liberally drawing on the nine years worth of the festival’s sound and vision archives. Although carefully prepared, Shea retains a significant amount of control on the night, busily layering throughout.

We return from the break to another audio-visual work, this time by German screen industry exile Thomas Köner; his collection of international urban and industrial sound-scapes pair well with the heavily affected visuals which clearly depict Japan’s urban sprawl.

Closing the festival in a truly multi-sensory fashion are the Victorian three-piece Plump, whose intriguing installation adorns almost half the room. Sculptor Marc Rogerson triggers lights in a series of scattered mound, while Dave Brown caresses tensioned wires and intersecting steel poles with the bow from a cello, and various other objects, while Philip Samartzis manipulates the resulting sound in the round.

Also featured on the third floor of the main atrium is an installation curated by Camilla Hannan, including works by local artist Eugene Carchesio and San Franciscan Scott Arford. With a number of regional dates still to go, Liquid Architecture has clearly fulfilled its brief to unite the disparate factions of sound art in a showcase fit for the nation.

JAMES STAFFORD

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