STEPHEN PAVLOVIC UNVEILS HIS PROGRAM FOR VIVID LIVE  AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE 2011 MAY 27 – JUNE 5

2manydjs  / ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI /  THE AVALANCHES DJs /  AZARI & III / BAT FOR LASHES / CHRIS CUNNINGHAM /  CLUB KOOKY  / THE CRYSTAL ARK /  CUT COPY /  DOM / HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE /  LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIND /  OFWGKTA /  SNEAKY SUNDAY / SONNY ROLLINS  SPIRITUALIZED: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE /  TAME IMPALA / TOM KUNTZ  / WU LYF /  YO GABBA GABBA! /  CANYONS / THE SWISS / BENI / VAN SHE / FLIGHT FACILITIES / SOFTWAR /  BAMBOO MUSIK / CHANGES / BAG RAIDERS

Sydney Opera House today announced the program for Vivid LIVE 2011, curated by Stephen Pavlovic of Modular.
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House (May 27 – June 5) is part of Vivid Sydney (May 27 – June 13), the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas.  Vivid LIVE celebrates Sydney as a leader in the field of the creative and cultural industries both nationally and throughout the region.

Each year, Vivid LIVE asks a different artist or individual to curate a program of events in and around the world’s most iconic venue.
Following Brian Eno’s debut festival in 2009, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson brought their unforgettable downtown New York vibe to Sydney in 2010.  This year local music industry legend Stephen ‘Pav’ Pavlovic, founder of the hugely successful Sydney-based record label, touring company and international brand Modular, brings fresh Australian eyes to this growing international festival.

Sydney Opera House Head of Music, Fergus Linehan says, “Working to realise Stephen Pavlovic’s Vivid LIVE program has been an exhilarating ride for all of us at Sydney Opera House.  Pav is meticulous, tenacious and fearless in his approach and while his season is host to countless artists who are outstanding in their own right, this is a festival that can only be fully understood in its entirety.  It has also been an honour to work with our colleagues at Events NSW to build a festival which we hope will have real meaning for the people of NSW, draw visitors to the city and celebrate the creative powerhouse that our state has become.”

See the full program here

Photo: courtesy the artist

Ho Tzu Nyen: Earth
Curator: Blair French

Singaporean artist and filmmaker Ho Tzu Nyen creates works that are fields of concrete sensations. In association with Sydney Festival 2011, Artspace presents the first major exhibition of his work in Sydney, including two live sound score performances by Melbourne-based composer and musician Oren Ambarchi accompanying screenings of the title work.

The exhibition features three major video works—NEWTON (2009), ZARATHUSTRA: A FILM FOR EVERYONE AND NO-ONE (2009/2010) and the centrepiece 42 minute work EARTH (2009/2010), a ‘videographic’ remix in three long takes of 17th and 18th century Italian and French paintings in which the human body is penetrated, fragmented and re-arranged.

Ho Tzu Nyen creates audio-visual artworks that translate and compress biographies, philosophical ideas and scientific anecdotes into highly staged and choreographed ‘text-less’ images and sounds that seek to communicate at the level of the nervous system.

ARTSPACE is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

ARTSPACE is assisted by the New South Wales Government through Arts NSW and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

ARTSPACE is a member of CAOs (Contemporary Art Organisations Australia) and Res Artis (International Association of Residential Art Centres).

See more at ARTSPACE

MONA FOMA (MOFO), is Hobart’s cutting edge Festival of Music and Art. Currently in it’s third year, the festival is once again presenting another ground-breaking and frontier-pushing program for 2011.
From January 14-20, curator Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes and now The Break fame will present an incredible array of massive and amazing music, dance, theatre, visual art, performance, new media – and some art. It’s a mix of first-time appearances, festival favourites and exclusive one-off performances and it’s mostly free.

The MONA FOMA 2011 Festival line up includes:

Philip Glass and Wendy Sutter [USA]
Grinderman [Australia/UK/USA]
Botborg [Australia/Germany]
Speak Percussion [Melbourne]
Chiharu Shiota [Japan/Berlin]
Brook Andrew [Sydney]
Amanda Palmer [USA]
Neil Gaiman, FourPlay Sting Quarter &Eddie Campbell [USA/Australia/UK]
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion [USA]
BalletLab [Melbourne]
Wire [UK]
Groupe F [France]
Roman Signer [Switzerland]
Gelitin [Austria]
Ana Prvacki [Serbia/Singapore]
Health [USA]
Monanism – the Exhibition

Philip Glass and Wendy Sutter [USA]

Philip Glass [legendary composer/pianist]. Considered one of the most influential composers of late 20th Century. Widely acknowledged as the composer who brought art music to the public. Wendy Sutter [cello virtuoso]. Internationally acclaimed soloist, muse and partner of Philip.

MOFO 2011: The duo will present an intimate evening of Glass compositions. Solo piano, a cello suite ‘Songs and Poems’ and duets each include discussions by the composer. A unique relationship: Glass and his muse Sutter.

Grinderman [Australia/UK/USA]

Australian rock and roll royalty. Formed 2006 as a follow-on from post-punk group Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave [vocals. electric guitar. keyboards]. Warren Ellis [electric bouzouki. mandocastor. violin]. Martyn P. Casey [bass]. Jim Sclavunos [drums].

MOFO 2011: These stalwarts guarantee to make Prince’s Wharf 1 throb with noise and poetry.

Amanda Palmer [USA]

Amanda Palmer: [composer/pianist/performer/ukulele basher]. Came to prominence with the American cabaret/rockband Dresden Dolls. Has moved on to a highly successful and diverse solo career ranging from music>film>theatre>dance. Her confrontational and unorthodox relationship with the audience breaks down the usual performer/crowd barriers and leads to all kinds of interactions.

MOFO 2011: Will appear solo and in collaboration with several other artists.

BalletLab [Melbourne]

Formed 1999. Confrontational dance troupe present a trilogy of MONA commissioned new work. Regular MOFO performers, their piece in the inaugural MOFO was SO intense it had to be moved indoors after witnesses to the sound check/rehearsal got anxious and started to cry. One of the most inventive choreographic visionary companies working in Australia. Strikingly contemporary in nature and physically idiosyncratic.

BalletLab’s work pushes performance boundaries and invents movement vocabularies that reference contemporary culture: a transforming often provocative and polarising experience for the audience, the art form and the performer.
Blending, juxtaposing and twisting classical, romantic, baroque and contemporary dance forms, the visual impact of the movement and the provocative conceptual based imagery and design play equal parts within BalletLab’s unique choreography.

Find out more about MONA FOMA

“It can’t rain all the time…”

During a weekend where Melbourne experienced a significant amount of rain, it seemed somewhat appropriate to attend the spooky Underground Cinema event for Halloween. Especially as the mystery film was revealed to be the 90s goth/crime cult classic: The Crow.

2010, Australia, Halloween, Melbourne, UGC, Photography – Dan Murphy

Approaching the secret location characters from the film came to life to interact with you. Whilst waiting in line, small excerpts from the film were re-enacted by the characters standing by: skatebaording past or clutching to a faux grave stone. With so much happening around you, it cannot be helped but to become swept up in the energy and excitement. The Underground Cinema creates an environment where guests are encouraged to be invloved in the scene they create: rather than just a viewer.

2010, Australia, Halloween, Melbourne, UGC, Photography – Dan Murphy

Be quick to get tickets to the Underground Cinema’s final event for 2010 – tickets can be purchased here

Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Robert Lepage, Jack Charles, Hotel Pro Forma, Michael Clark Company, Thomas Adès, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Akram Khan Company, The Black Arm Band & Beck’s Festival Bar

The 25th Melbourne Festival, and the second under the artistic direction of Brett Sheehy, announces a dynamic and emotive program of work from some of the finest creative minds of our times. Over 16 days, from 8 to 23 October, the Festival presents an unparalleled feast of music, dance, theatre, opera, visual arts, multimedia and outdoor events from renowned and upcoming Australian and international companies and artists.

Festival highlights this year include free outdoor aerial spectacular K@osmos; Hotel Pro Forma’s awe inspiring, large-scale operatic spectacle, Tomorrow, in a year, featuring the groundbreaking music of electro-pop masters The Knife; world renowned recording artists Sinead O’Connor (in her exclusive Australian performance), John Cale and Meshell Ndegeocello; one of Australia’s most highly regarded performers in his one-man show, Jack Charles V The Crown; the residency of British composer, Thomas Adès, the most inventive contemporary composer of his generation. As part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival: Beck’s Festival Bar at the Forum Theatre, will be featuring some intriguing acts: Boredoms (Japan), Low (USA), Ponzu Island (Australia), The Drones (Australia), Dead Meadow (USA) and more.

Boredoms

Ponzu Island

The Festival features two Australian premieres. come, been and gone, the bold new dance work from the world renowned Michael Clark Company featuring the music of the legendary David Bowie with Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno and internationally revered director, film maker and actor Robert Lepage’s  magical journey to modern China with The Blue Dragon, a heart-wrenching love story told with Lepage’s trademark striking theatrical vision.

Come, Been and Gone, Simon Williams, Photography: Jake Walters

The Festival closes with a one-off spectacular finale, Seven Songs to Leave Behind, a unique concert featuring international music legends Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Meshell Ndegeocello and Rickie Lee Jones, with award winning Indigenous artist Gurrumul Yunupingu and festival favourites Black Arm Band and Orchestra Victoria at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Oct 23.

For more info see the festival site here

Winner: Sea Change by Rosie Clements and Joe King

Kate McCurdy

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In an attempt to support and promote the myriad disciplines that fall under the umbrella term ‘digital moving image’, this year the Jerwood Moving Image Awards was established to provide a platform for exploring and debating the artform as it exists today, as well as its future prospects.

Of the 350 entries received, three winners were selected by the judging panel as leaders in their field: Sophie Clements, Johnny Kelly and the creative partnership of Rosie Pedlow and Joe King. They have each received £10,000 as winners of the first ever major award in the UK for artists working in the relatively new discipline of digital moving image.

Winner: Procrastination by Johnny Kelly

Digital moving image is a ‘uniquely exciting creative discipline of almost limitless possibility,’ says Roanne Dods, Director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. She adds that ‘the three winning films wonderfully fulfil the potential of putting digital technology in the hands of the artists, and will hopefully encourage audiences, artists and critics alike to engage more closely with this artform’.

The fact that the judging panel was led by Wayne McGregor of the Royal Ballet displays the breadth of this new discipline into all areas of the arts. McGregor observes that ‘the staggering diversity of practices that we’ve seen [in the award's entries] from dance film and documentary to animation and video art, reveals a discipline that is vigorously creative and consistently challenging its own boundaries.’

Winner: Evensong by Sophie Clements

The three winners’ work are prime examples of this blurring of disciplines, as they combine elements of filmmaking, sound design and music, screenwriting, visual arts, as well as animation and digital effects to create the films.
A collection of their work as well as the other five finalists, and twenty-two other shortlisted films can also be streamed online at the Jerwood Moving Image Awards website.

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‘Tomb Raider and Lara Croft’ © & TM Core Design Limited 2002-2003.
Courtesy of Eidos Interactive Limited.
All Rights Reserved.

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Anne Paterson

An interactive history

Game On at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is an exciting exploration and celebration of the development of video/computer game technology from the earliest electronic game, Spacewar, in 1962, played on a giant computer, to present day games and into the future. Game On looks closely at the relationship between design and culture. It examines the many areas of design in this industry, such as graphics, illustration, animation, sound, game design and technology, game consoles and much more.

Game On also examines the importance of computer game culture and its place in society; how it borrows from other forms of creativity such as television, music and movies: for example, GoldenEye (Rare), Star Wars (Atari) and Discs of Tron (Bally Midway), and, conversely, the way in which other creative fields are influenced by games such as Tomb Raider (Core Design) and Resident Evil (Capcom) which have become successful movies. Game On also looks at the impact of particular film genres such as anime and comic genres such as manga.

Game on exhibition at ACMI

International exhibition at ACMI
This is a worldwide exhibition, originating in London at the Barbican Gallery in 2002. It has already toured the United States, Europe and Asia and more than a million people have seen it. Just like computer games’ design and technology, this exhibition has evolved to keep pace with ongoing developments in the industry.

The Sims © Electronic Arts Inc. 2002

120 playable games on show
Game On is definitely hands on – a totally interactive experience. We are invited to play! There are over 120 of the most famous video games ever made, in one place and playable. ACMI is the only cultural institution in Australia with a dedicated exhibition space for video games, known as the Games Lab. This comprehensive exhibition is divided into sections which showcase specific areas within the realm of game design and technology, such as Early Arcade Games, Games Consoles, Games Families, Sound, Cinema, Games Culture – USA, Europe and Asia, Multiplayer Games, Online Games and Machinima, Kids’ Games, Character Design, The Making and Marketing of Games, and Future Technology. Running simultaneously with the exhibition, is a rich programme of associated events including gamerthons, watching game artists at work (Tantalus, Interactive), game memorabilia (www.acmi.net.au/collectors), debate on violence in games, choosing good games, and a unique feature of this exhibition – Australian-made games such as the 2007 Game of the Year Puzzle Quest (Infinite Interactive), The Hobbit and The Way of the Exploding Fist (Beam Software)(Melbourne House), and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (Krome Studios).Game On has something for everyone.

Mario © Nintendo Co. Ltd

A showcase of games design
From a designer’s perspective, the Game On landscape is vast and provides an inspiring experience. The exhibition is a superb example of how broadly the term ‘designer’ can be applied. From concept development of characters in the games, for example, Sonic (the Hedgehog) created by Sega’s Yuji Naka, and Mario, created by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamototo, to the marketing of the packaged product, we are able to examine a comprehensive design process, combining the talents of designers from diverse fields.

Game On
The History and Future of Computer Games and Gaming
ACMI Screen Gallery
Thursday 6 March – Sunday 13 July 2008
10.00 am – 6 pm daily; Thursday nights until 9 pm
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne

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Lighting Design
Associate Lighting Designer, Richard Pacholski, began his career in lighting at the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and toured with the Australian Ballet. He then joined Cameron Mackintosh Australia in late eighties and over the next decade toured extensively on their productions of Les Miserables, Rent, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Five Guys Named Moe, and Miss Saigon. Pacholski now operates his own company r2 design + production, and works freelance for productions staged all over the world. He explains to DGDN how he produced the lighting design for the new production of Miss Saigon in Australia after being handed the creative reins by original lighting designer David Hersey.

DGDN: You’ve worked on a number of significant productions in (especially) Australia and South Korea. It must be a huge job to design and organise the lighting for such big shows. What does the process involve and how do you go about beginning such a task?

Pacholski: Most of my work requires me to take the role of associate designer of these shows. The original lighting designer – in Miss Saigon’s case David Hersey from London ¬- does his work on the first few productions and then hands things over to an associate. David would then move on to light other shows while associates carry on with the previous show. This needs to happen as the one show might multiply across the world quickly and he cannot be everywhere.
It is a huge undertaking to design and organise a show like Miss Saigon. A large amount of time is consumed in the pre-production period before we even set foot on stage. Then it’s a long haul once we are in the theatre. 14-hour days are the norm and days off are rare.

The process normally starts with much collaboration between lighting designer, director and set designer and often the producer as well. These meetings will normally give the show its direction in the form of scene structure, a set design, and the beginnings of a lighting design. Following from that, a set design might get signed off on and that then gives the lighting designer a clearer set of constraints to work within. The lighting designer would then draw up a design based on types of lights and their placement in the theatre. Then comes the creation of a cue synopsis, which is a written guide to cue points and “looks” of the lighting. The designer normally builds on this process by observing rehearsals of the production with the director. From the final design, a list of equipment is sourced and into the theatre we go. Once rigged, we then focus each light individually and then start lighting scene by scene. Each scene consists of a series of cues or “looks” which we store in a computerised lighting console. Next, the cast arrive and rehearsals start onstage. We continue to use this time to build on the all the cues. All this continues until 2 minutes before opening night when we all nervously sit and hope all looks good and nothing goes wrong!

DGDN: Of the members in the crew, who would you work most closely with in terms of direction? When does the lighting aspect fit within the whole process?

Pacholski: Well, in terms of direction, the director is the most important person on the team without doubt. You need to converse constantly with him in terms of the style and look of the show. Other people in the crew whom are important to work with are the Technical Director and the Head Electrician, so [that] I can get what I want.

DGDN: For this particular production of Miss Saigon, which is set in both Saigon (Vietnam) and Bangkok (Thailand), what aspects come into play when designing the lighting needs? What sort of effects did you design to convey the different physical and cultural aspects of these cities?

Pacholski: The aspects that come into play with lighting this production are a feel of the location, whether that’s based on landscape, elements of the environment or just that “feel” you get from being somewhere different. Somehow you need to help convey that. That might be through the angle of the lighting, the colors you use, or special lighting effects. The array of lights on the market now is vast and you choose each one based on its features. By using those features you create that feel. For the Bangkok scenes for instance we recreate a sleazy street scene: lots of color, shafts of light, smoke, festoons, [and] lit-up sign boxes. Other times it might be an intimate indoor scene, [with] low light levels, warm skin tones [and] maybe a slow sunrise in the background.

DGDN: As an overall effect, what sorts of features need to be considered in terms of lighting?

Pacholski: The most important effect or feel, is to convey to the audience the emotion of the scene: the combination of actors, set, costumes, music & lighting all add to that. For some scenes the lighting might have the strongest influence on the emotion, at others times it might be another department, but we all combine to take the audience there.

DGDN: What sorts of budgeting requirements need to be considered for a commercial production such as Miss Saigon?

Pacholski: Budget plays a huge role these days in commercial productions like Miss Saigon. It’s an expensive show to stage and it takes a successful tour for it to be become financially viable. The show has a large cast & crew, lots of scenery and costumes and many trucks to move from city to city. Not only do we need to get the lighting equipment on budget, we also need to tour efficiently. That might be in the way we pack the equipment and how quickly we can move and set up in a new city. Any wasted time means wasted money.

DGDN: How does Miss Saigon compare to other productions you have worked on in terms of difficulty?

Pacholski: This one is complicated as the mood and location shifts many times during the whole show. We need a large mixed amount of lighting tools to deal with it. We have vast array of quite different fixtures in the lighting rig. The workhorses of the rig are the automated lights and each type we use has quite different features. This helps give us a large array of ways to light a scene: it may be the look of the beam of light, what we can do with that beam, the saturation of the color in the beam, and the effect we can introduce to the beam. All the different types combine to create the lighting for a scene.

Sound Design
Peter Grubb is one of a select few of sound designers internationally who are commissioned to provide sound designs for productions with the Cameron Mackintosh Organisation, the most recent of which is the Australian production of Miss Saigon. He joined System Sound as an operator in 1981, and now as Sound Supervisor for the company his credits include We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia!, Cats, Les Miserables, Rent, and the original Sydney production of Miss Saigon in 1995. In 2001 Grubb received the Victorian Green Room Association’s Award for Technical Achievement. He tells DGDN how he meets the challenges of designing sound for a touring production such as Miss Saigon.

DGDN: You have designed the sound for touring productions around the USA, as well as productions in Japan, South Africa, Beirut, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, New Zealand and Australia. What does sound design entail and how does the process begin?

Grubb: To me, the first and most important area of a sound design for musical theatre is to make the vocal quality as natural as possible so that the audience does not notice the sound system. I want them to feel that all voice is coming from the performer; with the amount of “live” voice heard, the equalisation and balance of the speakers must be spot on! In a venue of over two thousand seats with speakers placed at least 6 metres from centre stage this can be quite a juggle.

Next I will look at how best to place speakers to enable an even coverage of the entire theatre. This must be in conjunction with the set designers to ensure the required “look” of the show is maintained.

With most productions I will attend meetings with the Director, Musical Director, Producers and at times Writers to discuss aspects of the piece that will include cast size, orchestra size, sound effects and style of the piece. This will enable me to provide a system with enough power and coverage for the job.

DGDN: What does ‘sound’ incorporate, and when is ‘sound’ taken into account in the overall scheme of putting on a production?

Grubb: Very early on in the design process I will spend time with the set designers to try and incorporate the main speaker and effects speaker systems into the Proscenium design elements. This enables us to “hide” speakers, [which is] something I will always attempt. I personally prefer not to have the speakers in view for the audience; I like the idea of them looking at the set and the performers, not a bunch of speakers and lights!

DGDN: What is involved in the process of designing sound for a production such as Miss Saigon? What sorts of factors need to be taken into consideration?

Grubb: The main difference for Miss Saigon is that there is a huge percussion set-up with lots of very loud Asian cymbals and gongs. Because these instruments need to be played hard to get their full sound they can be deafening to [the players] themselves, other orchestra members and the audience. For this reason we have placed them under the stage and carefully placed microphones on each instrument. The players [even] wear protective headphones!

We also spend a lot of time placing sound effects speakers in the auditorium for Miss Saigon’s famous helicopter scene. These speakers must be placed and programmed to give the audience the feel of a Huey flying in low over their heads. Actually one of the helicopter sound effects opens the show.

DGDN: How are you affected by budgeting requirements for a production of this kind?

Grubb: With any large scale production you could really go over the top with the sound system, but alas there are always budget constraints. Too big a system also means that it can be too slow to set up and pack down. One big issue with budgets is the number and quality of performer radio microphone system we use. As we are always attempting [to have] perfect sound and every line as clear as possible we often use over a quarter of the budget on these items.

DGDN: Are there different sound requirements for different venues? How is this considered when undertaking a touring production such as Miss Saigon?

Grubb: With the different size venues we will perform in during the Saigon tour consideration must be given to the number of speakers used and their placement, which at times can lead to hot debate between the sound, lighting and set departments for the best positions. Luckily the team we have on Miss Saigon are all good friends.

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