L I Q U I D A R C H I T E C T U R E

fins light :: James Geurts

Listen. Deeply.

Liquid Architecture, Australia's premier sound-arts festival, celebrates its eighth consecutive year with concerts, artist talks, workshops, forums, live performances, exhibitions, installations, audio-visuals and recorded work. Featuring our most imaginative musicians, composers, film-sound designers and media artists in a sense-specific feast for the ears.

What is 'Sound Art'?

"For many, it refers to sound-based art work (or at least art work where the principal focus is on sound) across the broad gamut of performance, installation and broadcast contexts, which departs from both traditional musical instrumentation and notational methods and frequently employs electronic media. Others may see it as an intersecting space with roots in post-Cageian music practice, or indeed 'post-phonographic' music practice, and installation art."
Julian Knowles then Professor of Music and Head of the School of Music and Drama at the University of Wollongong, in an article entitled Sound Practice, Sound Thesis in RealTime No68, August / September 2005

What is Liquid Architecture?

Liquid Architecture is a sense specific festival, as opposed to art form specific. Occurring annually since 2000, Liquid Architecture celebrates the diverse methods of sound making and sound theory. It is our belief that listening is a vital activity, and one that is often overlooked within the dominance of visual media in our environment.

What will I hear?

A key objective is the promotion of artists practicing on the periphery of music and sound culture, particularly those with an experimental aesthetic and a critical approach to (media) cultures. The artistic content of the festival focuses upon and privileges sound practice in all its manifestations but, due to the cross disciplinary potential of sound, many other art practices are included in the festival. Liquid Architecture focuses on any and all art forms involving particular emphasis on the auditory, including an exciting mix of musical performance, AV presentations and installation work, along with a strong critical element involving panels, workshops and artist talks.

Who's it for?

Now coming into its eighth consecutive year, Liquid Architecture strives to combine the fragmented communities in which sound arts practices occurs, striving for cross disciplinary appreciation and critique. The practical objective of this strategy is to popularise and publicise sound culture through greater aggregate audience size and a higher profile, and to make sound culture more accessible to the community, particularly to youth and student audiences. Audiences currently include those engaged with contemporary creative practice, sound arts practitioners, music industry professionals, electronic music concert goers, academics, cultural theorists and students (post & undergraduate), youth audiences and enthusiasts of adventurous popular music.

Liquid Architecture aims to popularise sound culture, particularly with young/emerging content producers within Australia's active student culture, in order to build not only future audiences but also future artists. Our rationale reflects an intense engagement with specialist and broader cultures, and the desire to make a contribution to those cultures. Sound practice is often cross disciplinary and the festival should reflect that, not only in the work presented but in the broad range of audiences it attracts.

The opportunities to network with national and international artists are an important means of generating future initiatives and cross cultural collaborations. The community is being exposed to some of the most exciting explorations occurring within sound culture that also happen to intersect with the media and fine arts. The exposure generated by Liquid Architecture is crucial in developing new audiences for the many discreet sound and experimental music communities currently operating around the country, and internationally.

Who's responsible?

Liquid Architecture is curated by practicing sound artists. Directed by Nat Bates, who heads the ((tRansMIT)) sound collective, and co-directed with Ben Byrne and Shannon O'Neill from alias frequencies and Lawrence English from ROOM40. The Artefacts of Australian Experimental Music CD launch is presented by Shame File Music.

Ben and Shannon have fostered a Sydney home at the Performance Space, Lawrence works closely with the Brisbane Powerhouse, and in Melbourne the festival is once again supported by RMIT Union Arts and returns again to the Arts House at the North Melbourne Town Hall.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its principal arts funding and advisory body.
The Sydney season is supported by Arts NSW, Melbourne by Arts Victoria.
Pauline Oliveros and Ione's visit has been made possible through the Alt.Music Festival under The Audio Foundation New Zealand, and in co-operation with the Fulbright association.
Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock and Dave Philips' visit is supported by Pro Helvetia and dual plover.
Cellule d'Intervention Metamkine's visit is supported by the French Embassy and Alliance Francaise.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its principal arts funding and advisory body.