Watch the new A/V venture from the noise dons about the dying days of a Soviet ship
Experimental noise musician Roly Porter (formerly of dubstep duo Vex’d on Planet Mu) and longtime collaborator, visual artist Rod Maclachlan will be joining forces once again for a special performance as a part of the specially-curated A/V Hydroacoustics event. The one-off experience will be bringing together site-specific electronic music, A/V performances and installations from cutting edge noise musicians all aboard the MS Stubnitz - a decommissioned East German fishing vessel turned music and arts venue. Having been moored in London since last summer’s ill-fated voyage to Bloc festival, this will be one of the last events before The Stubnitz will once again be setting sail at the end of May.
Headlined with an extremely rare live performance from the seminal, secretive post-industrialists :zoviet*france:, Hydroacoustics will also see specially-commissioned new collaborative work from Scottish techno artists Forward Strategy Group and TVO based on 'an imagined history of the boat', and a live performance from experimental soundscape artist Helm (PAN Records). There will also be various installations and AV projects, such as artist Emmannuel Spinelli’s Aquarium, an installation which uses a fishtank to manipulate field recordings of water.
The duo tell us in their personal words about the new video work as a teaser of what's to come:
Roly Porter:
"For many years I was claustrophobic and couldn't control my emotions. I did not like enclosed spaces (tube trains, planes, basements). The hull of a ship would have been the very worst.
Panic began following me out of the closed spaces, into the world, into fresh air, relationships and even music. It is a strange feeling to be claustrophobic outdoors, as though gravity is a malignant force intent on breaking you. Basic and beautiful planetary truths became frightening, which was sad for me.
I couldn't look at the stars or the moon during this period. Anything that reminded me of the reality of my place in the universe would trigger an expanded version of cabin terror.
Time, abstinence from drugs, the learning of new crafts and the birth of children cured me of this feeling. I embraced scientific narratives in the same way as I embraced myths and legends as a child, in exactly the same way as others embrace faith-based systems or philosophy. Layman love of time and space has given me stability and energy. The Microclimate II composition is homage to my newfound love of the moon, and the ability to breathe deep in the locked cabin.”
Rod Maclachlan:
"Weeding obsesses me and I can become quite wired as I fervently dash about digging up the transgressors. This seems to be symptomatic of my springtime mind, the elongated winter having amplified the transition from introspection into a heady spring.
The relationship between mental state and climatic shifts is explored in Microclimate II. Microclimate could be understood as the climate within – the weather systems of ones mind.
Having no personal experience of long ocean voyages, the sensations of sea travel are fed into my imagination through film, poetry and literature. The ocean journey is an environment of my subconscious world, one of disorientation and instability, surrender to the elements and the extreme contrasts of confined spaces and sublime endless horizons.
The visual elements of the installation transform the micro into the macro and these processes are laid bare, revealing the relationship between film-set and projected illusion."
Hydroacoustics - Bank Holiday Monday May 6th, MS Stubnitz, Canary Wharf, London. Live performances 8pm-11.30pm; Installations + DJs 2pm-8pm (optional donation).