When
Saturday, July 29th
6pm-8pm /
9pm-11pm
Where
The Substation 1 Market Street, Newport, Victoria 3015, Australia
Cost
$35 General
$25 MESS Members
$25 Concession
$20 First Nations
Banner Photography by Yunis and Kristoffer Paulsen.
MESS returns to The Substation with the seventh edition of Sonorous – a series of octophonic, commissioned concerts.
Once again, two extraordinary artists have been invited into the MESS Studio to engage with MESS’s vast collection of instruments. Each artist has worked their sonic harvests into beautiful, multi-channel compositions. Sonorous VII presents new works by two favourites of the MESS community: Jonnine Nokes and Katerina Stathis.
Jonnine’s composition, titled 11 years, 1 month, is a reflection on life after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in 2012. 11 years, 1 month steps back to view this period as a whole, recounting the traumas and joys of the time since diagnosis, with a memory plagued by holes and inconsistencies. They have spent years trying to fill the gaps, and this composition is a part of that process. 11 years, 1 month was composed entirely at MESS using a collection of modular synthesisers and a prerecorded component is presented in octophonic sound. This will be responded to in live performance on a hybrid analogue/digital eurorack modular synthesiser, in quadraphonic sound.
Katerina’s work is Opus MESS. She posits that the desire to connect to the workings of our inner selves through the senses is undeniable. Using sound, we can build such a connection through the process of absorbing and emitting vibrational energies. The result is a visceral, often beautiful, sometimes confrontational but cathartic experience. Opus MESS delves into these depths of expression – led by spontaneity and impulse. It guides the audience through intimate and fleeting moments that unconsciously intersect with present thoughts. Previously concealed tensions are unravelled, liberating listeners from the realities of societal expectations, so they may fully immerse in reflections and dreams of visions more beautiful.
Pull up a bean bag and get lost in these pieces, in the limitless world of electronic sound.
MESS 2023 Commissions are supported by the Besen Family Foundation.
About the artists
Jonnine Nokes (they/them) is a disabled transperson, artist and musician based in Naarm, so-called Australia. They have been composing electronic sound since 2008. They have performed and released experimental electronic music in numerous one-off collaborations and under many solo monikers including Hamburger Lady, Blossoming Anus, J. Caressé and their current project, Horse Pills.
In 2012, they graduated with a Fine Art degree, majoring in sound art, from RMIT University. Much of their artwork has been multichannel video and sound installations. They have exhibited sound and video work nationally and internationally. Many previous works were politically charged, exploring forms of radical resistance to far-right politics. Their current focus is far more corporeal in nature, as they navigate mental and physical challenges, violence, and their health, history and gender identity. They are currently conducting research for an honours thesis in Gender, Sexuality and Diversity Studies at La Trobe University.
Katerina Stathis (she/her) is a multi-instrumentalist and composer born in Melbourne’s West. Her soundscape practice explores connections between self and place, creating visceral experiences using a blend of analogue and digital synthesisers, found sound and acoustic instruments.
She has released a number of solo compositions including Delusions & Heroines, Refract: Covid Soundscapes Vol 1, Hope Springs Eternal and the soundtrack for Cloudland, a collaboration with installation artist, Chi-Uh Star. Her compositions have been included in various compilations including MESS Ltd’s Capacitor and Music Under Lockdown: Melbourne 2020 on the Shame File Music Label.
Katerina is one third of the composer collective STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM who were involved in sonic installation collaborations for Mona Foma 2020 & 2021: Hypnos Cave (in collaboration with Robin Fox and Soma Lumia) and Chairway to Heaven – A Suspended Symphony in the Sky. She is also a member of the MESS Synthesiser Orchestra whose performance of Magnitudes by Mat Watson, debuted at Sidney Myer Music Bowl in 2021. She has worked in collaboration with visual artist Jessie Scott and synthesiser artist Alex Nosek to forge a shared lexicon between analog and digital, audio and visual in Analog-Graft. Most recently Katerina worked in collaboration with Lucy Guerin Inc. composing the soundtrack for a new dance work, How to Be Us, commissioned by the Australian Ballet for Dance X.
