Rhythms of the Brain is an intriguing mix of art, music and technology. In it, classical ensemble NZTrio (Amalia Hall, violin; Ashley Brown, cello; Somi Kim, piano) team with artist Simon Ingram, via the assistance of John Paul Pochin and Kamahi Electronics.
The musical performers’ brainwaves are captured as they play, becoming the raw data from which Ingram controls a robotic painting arm. Mounted on a scaffolding rig, the machinery responds to the impulses, creating gestural art as a direct response to the musicians’ brainwaves.
The trio played two pieces by contemporary composer Alex Taylor. The first, the aptly titled Burlesque Mechanique, ranged from the frenetic melodic clashes of its opening through a threnodic violin section to the angular yet restrained chaos of the ending. The second piece, Asymptote, was a complex piece involving polyrhythms and microtuning. In it, violin and cello set up long siren-like drones, augmented by piano arpeggios. An uneasy yet oddly warm ambience was created, the whole feeling like clusters of bubbles rising from a deep pool. The angularity of the music well reflected the setting within the atrium of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
Through the music, the machinery moved in slow drifts, creating bold blue lines consisting of arcs and tight circles. The two pieces, painted together on the same large canvas, showed similarities, but with the second piece having a tighter and more obsessive feel. The performance concluded with a short Q&A session, concentrating mainly on the machinery and its use as an extension of Ingram’s practice.
The playing of the musicians was exceptional throughout, and the conversion of music to art, tying as it does with the ideas of abstract expressionist art, provided a fascinating attempt at transcending the intangibility of thought and presenting it in concrete form.
