The NIS, The Amplified Elephants, BOLT Ensemble photo Tim McNeilage |
A red searchlight reveals the winds, strings, harp and percussion of the BOLT Ensemble. Downstage, The Amplified Elephants are seated next to gleaming robotic structures: a frame of bells and an apparatus, the Gotholin, which draws violin bows across four violins. Teagan Connor punctuates the ambience with an eerie scraping from the instrument. A harp line (Mary Doumany) follows in its wake. Activated via a synthesiser keyboard, Robyn McGrath releases a jangling peal of bells from a robotic carillon. As Doumany begins playing sweeping glissandi, an incredible oscillating sound rises from the Whirling Dervishes—power drills with sound-producing bowls attached. Flashing coloured lights heighten the tension in the Lost World Auditorium, as the piece is entitled, signaling our entrance into the dream-like, symbolic world of The NIS.
The NIS, The Amplified Elephants, BOLT Ensemble photo Tim McNeilage |
The NIS, The Amplified Elephants, BOLT Ensemble photo Tim McNeilage |
As Director James Hullick writes in his program note, linear narrative is not the only way in which to understand ourselves and works of art. Sometimes a freer juxtaposition of ideas and sounds is needed, even when they may only appear once, undeveloped and do not have any real-world correlates. This approach is summed up in the show's title, The "NIS," which, like the famous hapax "ptyx" of the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, is a word invented by Katherine Sutherland to signify nothing. This play of signifiers is not entirely empty, however, as through this juxtaposition of ideas The NIS also brings together communities, as the large list of collaborators shows, to produce a thought-provoking and multi-faceted performance.
The Click Clack Project: The NIS, The Amplified Elephants, BOLT Ensemble, Footscray Community Arts Centre, 4 July; http://www.clickclackproject.org/
RealTime issue #115 June-July 2013 pg. web
© Matthew Lorenzon; for permission to reproduce apply to [email protected]