Sensored and Synthesized

Description:

Sensored and Synthesized was an evening of performances presented as part of Wave Equation—a series that featured electronic-based artists exploring live performance software and analogue synthesis.

Performing as the duo Mási + marina, Alanna Ho and Marina Hasselberg presented their experimental soundscape bed for a sensored cello (2016). The twenty-minute improvisation created circuits by connecting ground wires to the metal strings of Hasselberg’s cello, ringing meridian balls, a fish tank, and each other’s bodies. 

In Touch (2016), vocalist Marguerite Witvoet performed in a reactive bodysuit designed by Kiran Bhumber and Bob Pritchard that responded to touch with musical output. Strips of sensors on the bodysuit triggered loaded samples through physical contact, while accentuating the body and evoking the strings of the instrument. The ten-minute composition integrated live electronics by Bhumber alongside vocal techniques, haptic feedback, and sensors to reflect on the experience of loss. The work also demonstrated Bhumber’s ongoing practice of reactive musicality, memory, and movement. 

For the final performance of the evening, Sarah Davachi was joined by Marina Hasselberg on cello and Robert Smith on analogue synthesizer for a thirty-minute performance. Set up on the floor under the light of a Tiffany Lamp, the musicians exploited the mutual spectral identities and behaviours of the instruments through an investigation of stillness and physical acoustics. 

The performances were followed by a talk back with the artists.

Sensored and Synthesized was presented with support from SOCAN Foundation and the Government of Canada.

Video documentation of this event is available upon request.