BlackKaji
Scaling depths of boundless black
Lateral shifts
Pattern de-recognition
Scaffolding, not concrete
BlackKaji. A study of the unseen, unsound, unsuspecting, unsustainable, unstable.
This is a series conceived by Ujikaji and The Observatory.
3 Jun 2018
19:30
$12 ($10 for full-time students / seniors / the unemployed)
Black Axis Blk L, 01-48
Goodman Arts Centre
90 Goodman Road
Josten Myburgh is a Perth-based composer, improviser and performer, active in experimental and new-music spaces. He is part of the team running the label Tone List, which represents exploratory music activities in Perth through releasing recordings and organising concerts, including the annual Audible Edge Festival.
He studied with electroacoustic musicians Lindsay Vickery and Stuart James (WAAPA) and Wandelweiser composer Antoine Beuger, and has also undertaken mentorships and emerging-artist programs with radio artist Alessandro Bosetti and composers Perluigi Billone, James Ledger and Richard Barrett. He has performed at Supersense Festival of the Ecstatic (Melbourne), Klangraum (Düsseldorf), High Tide / Fremantle Festival, AudioArt Festival (Krakow), Cable#8 (Nantes), 101 Scelsi/Cage Festival (Palermo), KLEX (Kuala Lumpur), Tilde New Music & Sound Art (Melbourne) and the Totally Huge New Music Festival (Perth), as well as in concert series in Europe, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Australia. He has released music with Emmanuelle Waeckerle (Edition Wandelweiser), Emilio Gordoa & Michael McNab (Shame File Music), Jameson Feakes (Tone List) and solo (Flaming Pines, Ivory Tower Records).
“Marla Bendini” was created in 2007 as an amalgamation between art and life, to explore multiple liminal identities and fluidity in perspectives. Since her first self-titled exhibition “Marla.” (2008), presented in a transsexual bar in Pattaya, Thailand, her mediums and presentation modes have gone beyond the constraints of art spaces to include the arena of competitive pole dancing and aerial acrobatics, resident drag acts in nightclubs, and community engagement programmes. Her present work seeks to lose the endless forms, questions and answers by improvisation and DIY culture as a form of meditation and way of life.
Andy Chia: Musician, Artist, Channeller of the Fourth Dimension
Andy was the first to be admitted into the Diploma and BA(Hons) in Nanyang Academy Fine Arts (NAFA) as a traditional Chinese bamboo flute student. He was also the first Singaporean to receive a Masters of Arts in Dizi performance from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, as a National Arts Council scholar.
Though he had been trained traditionally and classically in the Chinese flute, he seeks constant experimentation to explore the boundaries of sonic experience. He has incorporated the use of electronic effects and extended techniques such as flute boxing, throat singing, as well as hand crafted his own slide didgeridoo using pipes.
Andy is also the Artistic Director of SAtheCollective, a recipient of the National Arts Council Seed Grant 2016-19, and also the musician of experimental ethnic trio SA(仨). His recent solo artistic pursuit is in spirituality and music, bringing spiritually into the secular space.
Andy has gained a myriad of experiences performing both locally and internationally in countries such as France, UK, China, USA, Korea, Japan, India amongst others.
Izzad Radzali Shah (b. 1986) works with painting and drawing, sometimes animation and sound. His art references history, depicting words along with expressive figuration and pattern on mostly reused materials. In his works, Izzad maps his thought processes and inserts text and motifs as keys for viewer interpretation.
Izzad graduated in 2013 with a BA(Hons) Fine Arts from LASALLE College of The Arts. In 2017, he presented his first solo exhibition Matlamat Jangka Panjang (Long-term goal) at LASALLE's Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore. He has participated in group exhibitions at Ace House Collective, Yogyakarta (2017), The Substation (2013) and the recent State of Motion by Asian Film Archive (2018).
Akileshwar
Akileshwar was born in a family with rich musical tradition and with their encouragement, he chose to pursue the art of the mridangam from a young age. A fine and versatile performer, he is a very sought-after percussionist, and not confined to the Indian classical paradigm. His sound has been described by critics as being a pleasing blend of virtuosity and aesthetics. His approach to performance highlights the tonal nuances of the mridangam while being rooted in the polyrhythmic tradition of Indian percussion.
At the age of seven, he was initiated by Thaamaraikudi Shri Vijayakumar and Palghat Shri S V Ramani and Shri S Paskaran at the Temple of Fine Arts Singapore. In 2010, under the guidance of Shri T R Sundaresan at the at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Akilesh obtained a diploma in mridangam and was awarded the title for being the best student for that year.
Akilesh is a National Arts Council postgraduate scholarship Recipient for the year 2012, and has completed his masters in rhythmology at the University of Madras with distinction. Akilesh is also a “B High” graded artiste with All India Radio (2014). The titles he has received include “Vadhya Visharadh” (2010, SIFAS) and “Vaadhyanjali” (2002, TFA Singapore).
A Singaporean percussionist who is currently active in music performance and education, Cheryl Ong regularly performs with avant-rock group, The Observatory. Though classically trained, Cheryl struggled with the fact that classical and traditional music has constantly been divided and limited to its roles. Tired of being a mere technician, Cheryl has gone on to explore improvisational and experimental practices, hunting down new ideas and sounds. She’s always up for playing, bucking trends and going for broke.
Yii Kah Hoe is a Malaysian composer and improviser. Yii was the winner of 11th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards (Malaysia, 2014), the winner of Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Forum for Malaysian Composers (Malaysia, 2007). His works have been performed widely in the world. In the fall of 2015, Yii was the Scripps College Erma Taylor O’Brien Distinguished Visiting Professor at Scripps College in Claremont. He was the president of Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers (2014 – 2016) and a senior lecturer at SEGi College Subang Jaya, Malaysia since 2000.
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Art direction by Yuen Chee Wai