SHIFTING NATURE (2013)

For ISEA2013, Leah Barclay composed an electroacoustic performance piece based on environmental field recordings made during her Sound Mirrors project, in which she travelled through Australia, India, Korea, China and Brazil capturing the sounds of significant rivers and collaborating with their surrounding communities. The source materials range from hydrophone recordings of the Amazon River Dolphin in central Brazil to pilgrims chanting at dusk on the banks of the Pamba in southern India. Shifting Nature explores rivers as the lifeblood of communities and underscores the value of listening in our current state of ecological uncertainty, weaving diverse cultural and natural soundscapes into a dense and unpredictable sonic environment.

The piece was performed during Polysonics presented by ISEA2013 and the ABC
Saturday 15 June 2013, 7:00PM – 9:30PM  | Studio 22, ABC Ultimo, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo, Australia

ISEA2013

ISEA2013 is an international symposium of electronic art and ideas that will took place in Sydney, Australia. Presented by the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) and held alongside Vivid Sydney – a festival of light, music and ideas – ISEA2013 showcased the best media artworks from around the world and provide a platform for the lively exchange of future-focused ideas.

The 19th International Symposium on Electronic Art comprised of engaging presentations and thought-provoking speakers and discussions.

The ISEA2013 theme was‘Resistance is Futile’

Digital art has moved from the margins to become part of the fabric of everyday life. At once ubiquitous and unnoticed, resistance to electronic art has proven futile — it now lies embedded in the heart of our contemporary cultures. The symposium events will infuse the city’s social, digital and physical infrastructure. ISEA2013 aims to create a fluid body of thought, culture, community, industry, science and technology.

Artists play an important role by creatively investigating the possibilities and pushing the limits of new technologies, helping us to imaginatively experience and critically reflect on their implications for life in the 21st century. Digital electronic art is a source of innovation, the new norm in everything from publishing to TV, radio, games, film, fashion, music, architecture, design, applications and gadgets. Ubiquitous and pervasive, digital media permeates almost all creative endeavours in everyday life and the city. The urban spaces of Sydney will provide the scene for thinking through the consequences of digital life, creative industries, and contemporary electronic art practice.

Polysonics was also recorded by the ABC and turned into a radio feature for ABC Sound Quality for broadcast in 2013.

Further information on the broadcast in available here