Rapture II: Art vs Extinction

Background Traditionally, the sonic representation of Antarctica has fallen into two broad categories: the orchestral symphony (by the likes of Vaughn Williams, Peter Maxwell Davies and Josh Wynter) and the field recordings of sound artists such as Philip Samartzis, Andrea Polli, alongside phonographers such as Chris Watson and David Dunn. The Rapture 2: Art vs Extinction is an opportunity to explore new approaches in how the frozen landscape is described musically. Contribution Both orchestral and field recording reflect a sense of place – whether metaphoric or literal. The narrator and protagonist in this work however, is both subjected to the frozen landscape, and her inner character narrative becomes the story world being articulated and enlivened with sound. As a consequence, the performance wasn’t an objective document of the arctic, but rather a human experience of the frozen landscape. To capture this felt sense of physical extreme, the project explored how the established musical tropes aligned with the arctic could be enriched and made more visceral. The was achieved through the incorporation of Industrial and Noise genres into the orchestral score as well as a sound design approach which moved from environmental authentication to bold and surreal incursions. Significance: This project and its subsequent iterations and tour was funded by the Besen Foundation, Creative Victoria’s Creators Fund, the Prague Quadrennial, and the Australia Council. Enthusiasm for the project led to invitations to be the Australian exhibit for Prague Quadrennial, China's prestigious Wuzhen Festival, the Transit Festival (Denmark), a curatorial invitation to the Women, Climate, Art Residency at Baekeelund International residency centre for Contemporary Art, a digital presentation Copenhagen Stage Festival 2021 as well as a residency at State Museum Florida (2021-2023).