A fusion of visual art and classical music with the ASQ
Members of the Australian String Quartet have collaborated with three local visual artists to create an immersive performance at The Lab showing the magic that can happen when technology, art and classical music intersect.
Audience members at a show at The Lab, surrounded by visual elements on the venue's large LED screens. Photo: Jack Fenby
Transient States – to be presented over two 50-minute performances this Saturday – will see visual artists Max Brading, Simon Kither and Orlando Mee envelope ASQ musicians Dale Barltrop, Francesca Hiew, Christopher Cartlidge and Michael Dahlenburg with digital imagery that responds to their live music.
Making full use of the 50sqm LED screens at Light ADL’s The Lab, the shows will provide an opportunity for audiences to experience a different side of the Adelaide-based quartet.
Violinist Hiew says the ASQ chose five evocative pieces to play, from Beethoven through to contemporary works including Sydney composer Harry Sdraulig’s Swirl and British composer Thomas Adès’ Arcadiana.
Brading, Kither and Mee have created visual elements for each piece of music by blending 3D scans and video.
“None of us know what the end result is just yet,” Hiew told InReview earlier this week. “A few weeks ago, we got together for a creative development day and played all the music live – the three visual artists were playing around with their ideas [on the displays] surrounding us.
“They’ve explained their approach… it will be pretty amazing. It was some pretty crazy stuff they introduced to us.”
Light artistic director Anne Wiberg says Transient States is the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the artists.
“After the success of the ASQ’s sellout performances in 2021, we wanted to take our relationship with the quartet to the next level and stretch the realms of possibility when it comes to multi-genre live performance,” she says.
“The Lab’s world-class technological capabilities present endless possibilities and our long- standing relationships with many of Australia’s leading musicians and visual artists make a project of this calibre possible.
“These Lab performances are a real coup and highlight of our programming this year.”
Hiew says it has been a very different collaborative process for the ASQ members, who normally collaborate with other musicians: “When we collaborate with another of the arts, it’s always a really interesting experience for us all because we learn so much from them, and hopefully they learn something from us.”
Transient States will be presented at Light ADL’s The Lab on Saturday, November 5, at 5pm and 7.30pm.
