Back in the Deep End

Creating new potential and culture through Audio & Art. Can experimental audio subvert the dance party scene and extend the possiblites.

2 Jul 2005

Recently the efforts of several different Audio Artists have been colliding into experiments and collaborations around South Island dance events.

Activities of the both the Massive & Eudeamony 2005 Winter Solstice were subtly subverted and augmented by the craft of Matthew Ayton and John McCallum .

Specifically to exploit the aural environments at the fringe of dance systems, creating new sound space and experience, allowing platforms for new kinds of audio, art and culture.

Retro fitted into the dance environment audio experimentation allows new layers of participation to be inserted into the dance experience.

Treating the existing audio at dance parties as a landscape for presenting alternative sounds is a concept explored over the last few years by Simon Kong with his Third Space installations.

The initial project of using a separate sound system outside the central dance system to play a random selection of glitch, noise and drone sounds has evolved.

This year a full spec control center for insertion, capture and manipulation of audio was created. This center was subtly integrated into the primary sound systems creating a unique connection and influence over the entire sound environment of the event.

One of the key aspects discovered in these profound explorations, is the amount of aural room that exists in a sound environment.

With a certain amount of concern applied to the treatment of sounds, an almost infinite amount of space can be interpreted.

The ability to include more performers into a collective audio space creates new potential, and the possibility of expanding audience interest in the environments of dance culture.

Performance no longer has to be limited to a singular Dj's on a singular system.

This is a necessary evolution of dance culture and the audio environments that they create. It is the inclusion of additional performance ablities into an existing experimental space.