2017 NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) in Copenhagen
Excerpt from The 2017 Fusebox Time Arts Festival at Big Medium Gallery, Austin, TX
Noplace is a multimedia musical performance that integrates custom-designed instruments alongside live visual elements. The performance features live projections captured by closed-circuit cameras, synchronized animations, motorized zoetropes, and shifting shadows generated by a dynamic ensemble of mechanical devices. This interplay between sound, light, and motion creates an immersive audiovisual experience.
The title, Noplace, draws from the literal meaning of Thomas More’s Utopia, reflecting on idealized or non-existent spaces. The musical score is based on the second half of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It engages with its themes of perception, enlightenment, and the tension between illusion and reality, examining broader concepts of prosperity, safety, and identity.
A central instrument in the performance, the “Tine Organ,” is a custom-built, fully polyphonic device designed to produce sound by resonating metallic tines through digitally controlled electromagnets. This innovation allows precise tone and timbre control, enabling a broad and expressive sonic range. The Tine Organ serves as a key aural element in the performance, its unique tonal qualities contributing to the atmospheric and introspective nature of the work.
By combining sound, light, and motion, Noplace encourages audiences to forget the borders between music, sculpture, and performance art. The work invites reflection on the interplay between reality and illusion, offering space where a new kind of sound performance and visual narrative converge.
This project was supported by the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division.
Poster design by Phillip Niemeyer