A 44 speaker array surrounds Studio 1, EMPAC's famous “black box”. In the center of the room, chairs are scattered about at random. I take my seat near the edge, and I am immediately struck with an extreme sense of isolation but, I am not alone: several other festivals goers are eagerly awaiting for the first piece to being.
The first piece, a 24-channel sound-scape by Volkmar Klien, thrilled me from the very beginning. Using electronically generated beeps, clicks, and ticks, Klien takes listeners on a dynamic ride through the noise of the 21st century. At times, the piece is overwhelming: the audience becomes, quite literally, surrounded by noise. Feedback loops and high frequency screeches attack the audience from all directions, an experience completely unique to the space that it is being presented in. These delightfully abrasive sounds eventually give way to quieter hums and clicks which make up the majority of the rest of the piece, until quietly dissolving at the pieces end.
A piece by Hans Tutschku follows with a very similar ebb and flow of sounds, beginning very quietly, becoming increasing loud towards the middle of the piece, and then slowly fading into nothing. Tutschku's piece was unique in that he chose to include the voice of a woman in a style similar to that of a Gregorian chant. Full of longing and despair, the woman's voice cries out over all the noise and chaos until she is ultimately silenced along with everything else.
In no criticism to the composers, there were periods where I found it very difficult to focus on the pieces being presented. The sound of every cough, every movement made by the audience members was amplified to the point where someone clearing their throat was, at times, louder than the music itself. I found this to be terribly distracting and even wound up becoming overly focused on trying not to make a sound myself. This could have been avoided if the piece were presented on an individuals basis however, there was neither the time nor space to allow it.
Despite these minor annoyances I very much enjoyed both pieces. I am a huge fan of contemporary noise based music and having a chance to experience these works in 24-channels was quite remarkable in that of itself.
I actually really disliked Multi-channel Double Feature. I understand it’s a fully immersive soundscape. For the most part it felt like a blanket of sound was flowing around me and at the best parts, when I was fully relaxed, it even felt like I was being propelled through the sound. But it didn’t mean anything to me. It just seemed like an extravagant experiment in surround sound. I guess I just don’t see much value in art pieces unless they personally impact me in some way. And then after Double Feature I hear a group of visitors agreeing with each other about how amazing the performance was and how it pushed all kinds of limits. And I began to question how much of “art” is perpetuated because we’re raised with this huge emphasis on creativity and culture. Then when we’re told something is art how often we unquestioningly agree because we want to fit in with those values.
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