TRANSVERGENCE, SYDNEY (2011)

Transvergence is an immersive site-specific performance installation for Warehouse 15 on Cockatoo Island commissioned by the Song Company for MODART11.

“The work is scored for six voices and live electronics and was initially inspired by the evocative line ‘be not afeard, the isle is full of noises’ from Shakespeare’s Tempest. The title underpins my interest in transversality, as a notion that describes how spaces and time can intersect; transversality can be seen as the opposite of tangency, and formalises the idea of the linearisations of intersecting space.”

“Transvergence draws strongly on timbre, my key compositional interest, and also experiments with Konnakol, the sophisticated spoken rhythmic language of Carnatic (South Indian classical) music. I’ve been studying konnakol for a number of years, and am fascinated by its complexities and relationship to ecological rhythms. The electronic source material in this work is predominately processed hydrophone (under water) recordings; intuitively transforming the space into the dense marine environments surrounding Cockatoo Island and beyond. The work questions the relationship between real and imagined, and the role immersive performance can play in igniting a connection to the environment.”

Tranvergence was performed by the Song Company in October 2011 and was recorded by the ABC for a radio broadcast.