Portfolio (year)4. (semester)1
1. Recital
2. Dissertation
- David Stewart (theatre)
- Rhiana Katz (dance)
- Tribunal (film)
- KAN collective (installation)
- Ceilings (dance)
4. Other
i. Nika Mo
ii. great statue
iii. Darling
iv. Tone List
v. RTR
5. Performances
pic by Anastasia Julien-Martial
1. Recital
genre: experimental electronic / weird pop
musical content: (improvised, composed, arranged, choral) vocals, processed vocals, drum machines, bass
thematic content: 'feminine' expressions of sexuality, desire & power
influences: Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, AGF, Holly Herndon, Lolina, Grimes, Laurel Halo
excerpts/drafts:
mouth interior seeing downwards
interior downwards
pic by Anastasia Julien-Martial
2. Dissertation: Sisters Akousmatica's 'expanded radio' practice as a model of radical feminist broadcast
Abstract:
Considering radio as a form, producer, and transmitter of popular culture, it is important to question who has access to this cultural space, who is being represented, and how. It is widely recognised that women have been, and continue to be, dominated within the masculine hegemonic discourse of radio, but this does not mean that their dominated position goes uncontested. Sisters Akousmatica is a radical transmission arts project launched by Tasmanian sound artists Philipa Stafford and Julia Drouhin in 2016, described as ‘promoting women and gender diverse voices in public space’ working in the medium of ‘expanded radio’. Their practice involves large scale public transmission projects, hidden radio broadcasts, transmitter building workshops with women and children, and written research, exploring the ‘potential of emergent art forms to support, promote and cultivate
socio-cultural and gender minorities in the field of sound arts’. This research will investigate how the ‘expanded radio’ medium may enable Sisters Akousmatica, women in general, and other disenfranchised groups, to contest gender identities, and reconstruct the feminine through alternative, non-phallogocentric forms of discourse. Qualitative data will support a post-structural analysis of how women are excluded from the colonised cultural space of radio. This discussion will consider issues of gender identity, performativity, and discourse, informed by the theories of Judith Butler, Helene Cixous, and Suzanne Cusick. Considering the paucity of empirical and theoretical study regarding women and radio, the proposed research will contribute to the understanding of feminist radio practice, and offer suggestions of the possibilities of ‘expanded radio’.
Methodology:
The proposed research will investigate how the ‘expanded radio’ medium may enable Sisters Akousmatica, women in general, and other disenfranchised groups, to contest gender identities, and reconstruct the feminine through alternative, non-phallogocentric forms of discourse. This discussion will consider issues of gender identity, performativity, and discourse, informed by the theories of Judith Butler, Helene Cixous, and Suzanne Cusick (post-structural anti-feminist theorists). The author will undertake a post-structuralist analysis of how women are excluded from the colonised cultural
space of radio, supported by qualitative data collected through direct correspondence with the co-creators of Sisters Akousmatica, Philipa Stafford and Julia Drouhin. The interview process aims to elucidate their approach to, and understanding of, ‘expanded radio’ as a medium. It also aims to discover the possibilities of developing new discourses alternative to that of radio. Through seeking direct evidence from the two practitioners will allow for further explanation of the issues being investigated, and enable an insightful analysis of Sisters Akousmatica's process.
Sisters Akousmatica website < http://www.sistersakousmatica.org/ >
3. Collaborations
KAN Collective (Kickstart Festival installation)
for Propel Youth Arts' Kickstart Festival 2019, KAN Collective developed a participatory theatre installation titled Fruits of Failure. the piece invited participants to share failure-feelings in the KAN blanket-fort, installed in the Urban Orchard, Northbridge. influenced by The Queer Art of Failure by Judith Halberstam. created by myself + Noemie Huttner-Koros, with dramaturgical consultation from Kate Thresher
Tribunal (short film score)
directed by Mason Fleming, Tribunal is a short film commissioned by SBS follows the characters Banu (interpreter) & Javad (immigrant seeking Australian residency) as their stories meet at the Australian migrations office. in response to the Sydney Morning Herald article: Not gay enough: the bizarre hoops asylum seekers have to leap through
Estelle Brown (dance)
choreographed by Estelle Brown, sound design by Peter McAvan, vocals contributed by myself. the piece will be performed in the 2019 Bachelor Dance graduate season, at Dolphin Theatre UWA.
Rhiana Katz (dance work for Summer Nights)
the listener choreographed by Rhiana Katz, with live improvised sound by myself, was performed in Micromoves at The Blueroom Theatre as part of FRINGEWORLD 2019. The piece was influenced by themes and imagery used in Odilon Redon's painting of the same name. sound was performed using Karlheinz Essel's maxpatch 'Sequitur' to process improvised vocals.
David Stewart (solo theatre piece)
self-devised piece by David Stewart for the Bachelor of Performing Arts 3rd year solo works. abrasive, glitch, dark themes & aesthetics take influence from Ryoji Ikeda's piece CONTEXTURE [touch]
Ceilings (dance work for Not Sold Separately)
Ceilings was a double bill dance show developed by local collective Not Sold Separately, with music i composed. the first piece bloom was choreographed by Briannah Davis, and the second No Mandarin's an Island was choreographed by Olivia Davies. both explored themes of young womanhood and female friendship. video documentation of the piece by Millie Murfit (right)
No wine glass is a high hat
No wine glass is an island
4. Other
i. Nika Mo (alternative folk)
new ep to be released July 24. recorded, mixed by myself in November 2018. mastered by Sam Wylde. To be released as cassette, printed by Space Cassette. many gigs! most notably in Acoustic Sessions at Fremantle Church as part of FRINGEWORLD 2019, supporting Abbe May, at Kickstart Festival 2019, and on RTRFM 92.1 for their segment Slightly Odway.
ii. great statue (weird pop / experimental electronics)
(new work will be presented as part of recital). performances at Häxa House as part of Kickstart Festival 2019, 459 bar with Segue, Montana Wildhack & Sara Salt, Divine Feminine exhibition opening, Volta at The Bird, and an ambient DJ set in the Deepwater Greenhouse at Camp Doogs.
pic by Emma Stokes
iii. Darling (a cappella group)
i have composed music for our a cappella group Darling, as well as arranged covers of songs for us. this year we were the winners of the a cappella competition Pitch Slapped, at FRINGEWORLD 2019. in May we hosted a sold out acoustic gig at Guildford Mechanics Hall, with support sets from The Happy Girls and Sam Wylde.
pic by DS Studios
iv. Tone List (label for exploratory music)
this year i've become one of the core members of Perth label Tone List. we've been hosting monthly gigs at St Pauls Church in Menora. future plans include a festival, mentorship program, residency spaces for international artists, and new local releases; read more here < http://www.tonelist.com.au/ >
v. RTR (community radio)
I have been presenting the program Difficult Listening on community radio station RTRFM 92.1 for around 1 year now. I have also presented the peak hour show Drive Time, filling in for Vishnu. Some of my most recent shows can be re-streamed via the links below:
https://rtrfm.com.au/story/olivia-davies-intimate-distance/
https://rtrfm.com.au/show-episode/difficultlistening-2019-05-05/
https://rtrfm.com.au/show-episode/difficultlistening-2019-04-07/
https://rtrfm.com.au/show-episode/difficultlistening-2019-03-17/
5. Performances
Nika Mo performances 2019
15/6 Abbe May album fundraiser, Clancy's Fish Pub Fremantle
14/6 Frank's Fish Tank Muddy Landing album launch, Kidogo Arthouse, Fremantle
12/6 Nika Mo, AA Matheson & Lana, Ronnie Nights, Fremantle
9/6 Nika Mo + Cold Harbour, Clancy's Fish Pub Dunsborough
8/6 Your Girl Pho National Tour, Six Degrees, Albany
7/6 No Nomad, Nika Mo & Lana, El Grotto, Scarborough
24/5 Lincoln Mackinnon Album Launch, Mojos Bar, Fremantle
23/5 HAIRCARE EP Fundraiser, The Bird, Northbridge
22/5 Slightly Odway on RTRFM 92.1
16/5 Emlyn Johnson & Susan Flashman, The Bird, Northbridge
4/5 Jack Davies and the Bush Chooks EP Launch, Clancy's Fish Pub, Fremantle
14/4 Manifesto to Softness exhibition launch at City Arts Space, Northbridge
13/4 Kickstart Festival Day, State Theatre Centre, Northbridge
23/3 Bass Lemon Double Single Launch at The Aardvark, Fremantle
17/3 Blue Sky Festival, Mundaring
16/3 Carla Geneve 2001 Tour at Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle
9/3 Women's Fest at Clancy's Fish Pub, Fremantle
6/3 Gumnut at El Grotto, Scarborough
28/2 Sewing Room Sessions at The Sewing Room, Perth
27/2 Moth EP Launch at The Bird, Northbridge
21/2 Cheeky Chumps at The Bird, Northbridge
9/2 Rescue Remedy, Hamilton Hill
7/2 Blossoms Mixtape Launch at The Bird, Northbridge
3/2 Lady Powers at Mojos, Fremantle
2/2 Jack Runaway 'Read To Know You' single launch at The Aardvark, Fremantle
30/1 Nika Mo & Happy Girls at Voila Voila, Perth
25/1 Acoustic Sessions at Fremantle Church: Dan Howls & Nika Mo, Fremantle
11/1 ZAN Farewell Show at The Aardvark, Fremantle
10/1 Teen Angst EP Launch at The Bird, Northbridge
4/1 Fox Scully 'Wake Up In a Beam' EP launch at The Bird, Northbridge
Great Statue performances 2019
Camp Doogs, Deepwater Greenhouse stage (ambient DJ set) 2019
Häxa House: Kickstart Festival, Centre For Stories, Northbridge (2019)
Volta at The Bird, Northbridge (2019)
Micromove at The Blueroom Theatre, FRINGEWORLD 2019
Divine Feminine exhibition opening, City Arts Space (2019)
experimental performances 2019
Church Series: Kim Kerze [TAS] + Gosper/Moses/Turner
Audible Edge Festival 2019
6. Reading/listening
Childqueen Khadja Bonet
Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia Ryuchi Sakamoto
Titanic Rising Weyes Blood
Honda Jazz Leafy Suburbs
Warm Corona Lyndon Blue
Honey Robyn
Cleaning the Dishes Jack Davies and the Bush Chooks
Just Another Diamond Day Vashti Bunyan
When I Get Home Solange
Negro Swan Blood Orange
I Need to Start a Garden Haley Heynderickx
Big Red Machine Big Red Machine
Lamp Lit Prose Dirty Projectors
Wet Courage ECCO
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble. Feminism and the subversion of identity. London: Routledge.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter. On the discursive limits of “sex”. London: Routledge.
Butler, J. (2006). Gender trouble : Feminism and the subversion of identity. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Butler, J., & Scott, J. (1992). Feminists theorize the political. New York: Routledge.
Cixous, H., & Clément, C. (1996). The newly born woman (Theory and history of literature, 24). London: I.B. Tauris.
Cixous, H., Cohen, K. & Cohen, P. (1976). The Laugh of the Medusa. Signs, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Summer, 1976), pp. 875-893.
Cusick, S. (1994). Feminist Theory, Music Theory, and the Mind/Body Problem. Perspectives of New Music, 32(1), 8-27. doi:10.2307/833149
Hubbs, N. (2000). A French Connection: Modernist Codes in the Musical Closet. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 6(3), 389-412. Duke University Press.
Koskoff, E., & Cusick, S. (2014). A Feminist Ethnomusicology: Writings on Music and Gender. University of Illinois Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/stable/10.5406/j.ctt7zw5tj
Macarthur, S. (2010). Towards a twenty-first-century feminist politics of music. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Mitchell, C. (1998). Women’s (community) radio as a feminist public sphere. Javnost - the Public, 5(2), 73-85. doi:10.1080/13183222.1998.11008676
Mitchell, C., Sunderland, T., O’Shea, A., & Stream, C. I. (1999, July). Gendered practices in radio broadcasting-a critical study of culture of management and production.'. In at the Critical Management Conference.