“Semantic Clutter”
Tessa Elieff, Matt Tierney, Martin Kay, Adam Hunt, Alister Mew, Kirri Buchler, Lizzie Pogson, Paul Candy, Kit Webster and James Wright
1 July → 17 July 2010

Semantic Clutter was a presentation of the creative detritus generated throughout an artist’s work process. It is their fleeting ideas, forgotten moments of genius, and experimental experiments that fall by the wayside during the pursuit of the elusive final and finished piece of art.

In alignment with the Liquid Architecture ethos, ten sound and new media artists inhabited West Space over a period of 17 days to question, construct and collaborate amongst themselves. The audience was invited to experience Semantic Clutter on a first-hand basis via a range of open-house events, which included three alternating exhibitions, daily open rehearsals where audiences were able to stumble across a ‘work in progress’, and closing night performances.

Semantic Clutter Program

1st Exhibition: Thursday 1st July – Monday 5th July
Gallery One: James Wright
Gallery Two: Martin Kay
Corridor: Lizzie Pogson
Closet: Paul Candy

2nd Exhibition: Wednesday 7th July – Saturday 10th July
Gallery One + Two: Tess Elieff +James Wright
Corridor: Lizzie Pogson
Closet: Paul Candy

3rd Exhibition: Tuesday 13th July – Friday 16th July
Gallery One: Matt Tierney
Gallery Two: Kit Webster
Corridor: Lizzie Pogson
Closet: Paul Candy

Closing performance: Saturday 17 July.
Featuring: Kit Webster, Martin Kay, Alistair Mew, Kirri Buchler and Adam Hunt

Artist Biographies:

James Wright is a media artist researching the possibilities of multichannel audio visual performance, installation and film-making. His current work explores experiential, formal and narrative structures.

Kit Webster has been gaining rapid worldwide recognition for his creative combination of digital projection and sound. Works through 2009 included the projection/sound installations Dataflux and Scribbluminous, both of which were selected for screening at the Lange Nacht der Musik festival in Munich, Germany. He also developed the site-specific projections Pub Crawl, for the 2009 Gertrude St Projection Festival for which he is the 2010 feature artist, and Life on MARS, which transformed the exterior of MARS art gallery in Port Melbourne for an exhibition launch. This work inspired the gallery to commission Kit to create the site-specific immersive light and sound sculpture Engimatica, which was presented there in February. Kit recently received an Australia Council ArtStart grant and was invited to work at Strukt Studio in Vienna, Austria, through March and April and to exhibit an installation at ROJO@NOVA arts festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil in August this year.

Lizzie Pogson commenced a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sound) at RMIT in Melbourne in 2007 to develop her interest in sound and technology. Her recent commitments have included a multichannel sound installation based on ultrasound at First Site gallery (Melbourne), composing for the ‘Music Circus’ at the Melbourne International Music Festival, and during October 2008 performing with Philip Samartzis as part of the JOLT festival at West Space. When she’s not constructing new music, she’s reviving old music, playing baroque violin with many orchestras around Australia.

Martin Kay (aka Mountain Black) is a Melbourne sound artist who utilizes field recordings and cross-synthesis techniques to create noise, ambient, music-concrete and drone based compositions. Having been greatly inspired by the use of sound in film and anime Martin draws upon the construction and editing ideas/techniques within the soundtrack platform. Creating intrinsic hyper-real and abstract sonic soundscapes, which blur the distinctions between real-world sound events, atmosphere and music and propel the listener to create their own sense of narrative and environment. Martin has been executing these ideas through live-performance, composition, installation & sound design, performing his works in Melbourne and South Korea and has recently been translating his soundscapes to the realm of thartre, working with director Daniel Schlusser, and collaborating with Darrin Verhagen (Shinjuku Thief) and Nick Van Cuylenburg. www.myspace.com/kaytime

Matt Tierney (aka m. Leaf-tierney) is an emerging filmmaker, musician and artist. Working within the realm of abstraction to create immersive, audio / visual experiences, Matt investigates what is essentially a cinematic artistic practice, moving between screen works, live performances, installation, audio recordings and events. Matt completed a Diploma in Visual Art & New Media from Swinburne University in 2003, and recently graduated from a Bachelor of Fine Art via RMIT University in 2008. He has performed and exhibited in The Netherlands, and across Melbourne from 2003. http:mattleaf.com

Tessa Elieff (aka Tattered Kaylor) is an Australian based Sound Artist currently completing her Honours in Bachelor of Fine Art- Sound at RMIT, Melbourne. Elieff’s work stems from her fascination with the individual’s listening experience of sound within space and their resultant formed realities. Her live performance explores these relationships between sound, space, time and perception via processed field recordings and multi-speaker systems in various surround sound formations. As a curator Elieff has directed and organized a number of events dedicated to Sound and New Media Art. These events have included live Sound performance but also New Media Art showcases, master-class workshops and temporary inner city rehearsal spaces for emerging artists. Semantic Clutter is curated and directed by Elieff on invitation of Nat bates. www.tattered-kaylor.com

Paul Candy is a media artist that specializes in video art, photography, sculpture and various forms of hybridized new media. His work has been shown in private and public galleries, artist run spaces, electronic festivals and public venues.

Liquid Architecture 2010

The annual Liquid Architecture festival presents sound. Sound as the starting point for the active practice of listening. This is not to deny the conceptual or the abstract, the metaphorical or the representational, the expressionistic or the meaningful. But rather this is to restore the emphasis on the primary act of listening. Liquid Architecture is in effect, then, a listening festival and the artists presented are selected as much for their ability to listen with sensitive ears as for the sound they produce. You are invited to engage your sensitive ears and listen.

In 2010 Liquid Architecture occurs in seven cities throughout Australia and is supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. For more information go to www.liquidarchitecture.org.au