Immersion 3 is one in a series of events curated by Melbourne based sound artist and academic Philip Samartzis that focuses on the theory and practice of surround sound and immersive environments.

Immersion 3 will research the difficulties associated with sound presentations in gallery spaces in order to develop concepts and strategies that enable multiple artists using sound to simultaneously exhibit without negatively affecting one another. In order to investigate this objective, the three adjoining galleries that comprise West Space will each contain an installation in which sound plays a pivotal role. A special multi-speaker matrix will be installed throughout the gallery space to coordinate and distribute the sound design of each installation, converting West Space into one giant sound resonator. In this way each sound design can be strategically placed anywhere in the gallery space, and mixed to minimize polyglotic incoherence.

By its very nature, installation is a reconfiguration of acoustic and architectural space that enables incongruent relationships between sound and space to develop within a discourse that modulates between a series of diegetic and non-diegetic, intentional and random exchanges. It is the influence of acoustic and architectural space upon that which is expressed that is one of the most attractive features of installation. Also, the manner in which audiences navigate and interact with installation work is significantly different to the way they engage with sound work in other spheres of presentation in which elements such as form and time are highly regulated. The reduction of navigational intervention enables a total reconfiguration of the temporal and spatial aspects of compositional practice that is rarely found anywhere but the province of the art gallery.

In 1999 the inaugural Immersion used the cinematic space as a site of performance to explore the potential of Dolby Digital surround sound to render and modulate sophisticated sound fields. In 2001 Immersion focused on the concert hall and the ability of a multiple speaker surround sound diffusion system to comprehensively choreograph acoustic and architectural space through live spatialisation.

Artists:
Loren Chasse (San Francisco)
Martine Corompt
Rosemary Dean
Jim Haynes (San Francisco)
Philip Samartzis
Jennifer Sochackyj

Artist Talks, Performances
In addition to the exhibition program, a series of performances and artist talks centered on spatialisation will take place on each Saturday of Immersion.

Saturday 18th of September
4pm – 5pm Artist Talk – Jim Haynes
8pm – 10pm Surround Performance – Jim Haynes, Western Grey

Saturday 25th of September
4pm – 5pm Artist Talk – Philip Brophy
8pm – 10pm Surround Performance – Ph2, Thembi Soddell

Saturday 2nd of October
4pm – 5pm Artist Talk – Martine Corompt and Philip Samartzis
8pm – 10pm Surround Performance – Philip Samartzis, Anthea Caddy and Eamon Sprod