The Substation, an arts centre in Newport, provided the perfect setting for XFRMR and Thomson’s Tesla coil. Established in 1882, the site was constructed during the initial phase of Melbourne’s electrical services scheme, inaugurating a new era of technology through power generation.
MESS artists Robin Fox and Byron J Scullin (who run the incredible non-profit electronic sound and music organisation) were first up, showcasing the many rare and intricate analogue synthesisers in the MESS Studio collection. Their free form, improvised set ran for close to an hour, moving through warm, slow waves of ambient sound to glitchy squarks, bleeps and electronic noise.
Set in the middle of the room was the stage; it beckoned the audience forward, to gather around the synthesiser stack as if in participation of some arcane ritual. The two men manipulated the machines at a languid pace, moving through the peaks and troughs of sound with measured abandon. Atop the electrical pyramid stood a laser, dispersing beams of colourful light throughout the space. The visual effect created was that of a primitive time machine, transporting the audience to a strange and wonderful, new sonic realm.
Robbie Thomson’s XFRMR was up next, combining kinetic sculpture with music, light and sound. Utilising the Tesla coil as a visual element of the performance, the machine was synched up to Thomson’s soundtrack, providing the added energy of actual electricity. In the darkly lit Substation, the Tesla coil took on a life of its own, it appeared animalistic, alive and active. Deer like, the coil’s horns of electricity revealed the true personality of technology, as powerful, perilous and unquestionably, natural.
By Cassandra Kiely
LOVED: Everything.
HATED: People on their phones.
DRANK: A complimentary cider.
