Two Trains of Thought: Lyttelton-based sound artists Stanier Black-Five and Mela
Unanimity Lodge, 6 St Davids Street, Lyttelton
Sunday 7 June 2009
4:30pm
Fresh from their performances in the North Island, Lyttelton-based sound artists Stanier Black-Five and Mela join forces with fellow Lytteltonian Bruce Russell at the historic Unanimity Lodge in Lyttelton for the finale of their Two Trains of Thought performance series.
Mela generates a mellifluous musical microclimate using obsolete and discarded sound sources, while Stanier Black-Five continues a dynamic work that is based on manipulations of port recordings made across the country.
Bruce Russell misuses instruments including tape loops, a vintage organ, and a guitar in ways their makers never dreamt of.
Lodge members have granted a special concession for the use of their refectory for the Two Trains of Thought performance on Sunday 7th June at 4:30. If you want to find out more about this historic building and listen to experimental music, this might be your only chance to combine the two activities.
The Unanimity Lodge was built in 1876, is the oldest Masonic Lodge to have been established in the South Island, and is the third to be formed in New Zealand. The Lodge is offering tours of their building before and after the performance.
The Unanimity Lodge is located at 6 St Davids Street. Doors open at 4pm for tours of the Lodge, performances start at 4:30. $5 Door sales only.
Additional Artist information
The audio work of Stanier Black-Five regularly fuses live electronics with environmental recordings and found sounds – from mesmerising aircraft drones to the pounding rhythms of trains. As well as playing throughout New Zealand, Stanier Black-Five has taken her visceral performances to the UK and Europe, playing at events such as the London Musicians Collective’s annual festival of experimental music. She produces the Argot Records label and has had her music released internationally. For the Adam Art Gallery, Stanier Black-Five will develop a dynamic work based on manipulations of port recordings made across the country, incorporating Wellington docks into the mix.
Mela is an experimental audio/visual project which revels in the medium-specific properties of a variety of obsolete media. Her performances combine an almost obsessive degree of preparation with random interjections from misbehaving equipment. She sonically and visually investigates the aesthetics of constrained gesture and broken things by layering repeating melodies, gradually effected drones, and suitably unrecognisable beats to create an imperfect but mellifluous musical microclimate.
Mela and Stanier Black-Five are both active members of the Borderline Ballroom, a collective providing a relaxed space for challenging listening and live sonic experimentation in the city of Christchurch.
Bruce Russell is an improvising sound artist, who since 1987 has been a member of the Dead C. As a solo artist, Bruce uses tape loops, a vintage electronic organ, and a guitar in ways their makers never imagined. He has also been active as a solo artist, and directed two independent labels, Xpressway and Corpus Hermeticum. He writes essays and criticism for The Wire, artists’ catalogues, and other publications. He is currently studying at RMIT towards a doctorate in sound in the School of Fine Art.
