Scream Star review | Speaker Percussion | Arts House

Worlds collide in Speak Percussion's new collaborative performance, Scream Star, where three artists from around the globe have come together with three pieces of live music that intersect sound, the moving image and percussion. London-based Matthew Shlomowitz, German Johannes Kreidler and New Yorker Jessie Marino present unique compositions that investigate the playfulness and creativity of sound and music exploration.

The opener by Shlomowitz is an imagined variety show called Hey Hey It’s Tuesday. Archival footage of people lining up for shows, on stage, backstage and everything in between is projected onto a screen as the composers play with a number of percussion instruments including cymbals, drums and xylophones. Through this, we discover  ways of how the moving image can interact with new sounds and to appreciate new ways of hearing sound. The segment involving the Kiama Blowhole, the largest in the world, is a particular highlight.

Assembly Operation review

Our ticket for Speak Percussion's Assembly Operation is a Chinese one Yuan note, but this isn't just for novelty. The program tells us the inspiration for the show comes from the image that is printed on this note, and it allows us an opportunity to see the image and to better understand the show's concept. On it is an image from the West Lake in Hangzhou, which depicts three pools reflecting the moon. A body of water, a bridge and three ceramic stupas (pagodas) are also shown, and it is these items that influences Assembly Operation.

Walking in, we see three rows of tables facing the audience, each row adorned with different items. The one furthest to the back holds three small electronic keyboards whereas the middle one has a variety of traditional looking ceramics and a number of instruments, including drums. The front table is where the three percussionists, Kaylie Melville, Matthias Schack-Arnott and Eugene Ughetti, sit motionless. They are surrounded by crumpled up tissue paper, and knowing what we know about the show, it looks like a sea of water is surrounding them. A recording in Chinese plays through a PA or a megaphone and what its saying is lost on me, but I believe it to be sprouting cultural propaganda. Suddenly it stops, and the three percussionists begin.

Anicca review

In Buddhism, anicca (impermanence) is seen as the first of three marks of existence and the idea that existence is by nature, evanescent and inconstant. With his new show, Anicca, composer and performer Matthias Schack-Arnott manages to bring these beliefs into the thoughts of his audience as we reflect and ponder on the transient nature of not only moments in our lives, but of life itself.

While his previous show, Fluvial had its own impressive concept and visual design, Schack-Arnott has truly outdone himself with the design of the instrument for this performance. An array of bamboo sticks, pebbles, shells, felt and other tactile items are glued on to a flat round surface and with the use of a motor from an electric pottery wheel, Schack-Arnott gets the instrument spinning, where it begins to resemble a large roulette wheel. This variable-speed rotating instrument created with engineer Richard Allen, has no name and this adds to the mystery and wonder of the show.

Fluvial review

It begins with a single chime that resonates through the room. It lingers in the space, bringing a calming, meditative state over the audience, and just as it ends another one begins and another and another.

I can only begin to wonder how composer and performer Matthias Schack-Arnott even began to visualise his installation for Fluvial. It consists of two rows, about five metres long, of various metal, aluminium tubing and glass bottles running parallel to each other. A number of bottles and chimes hang from above with fishing wire, seemingly floating in the air. The pools of water along the rows and the name of the show itself, make this "river of percussion" a sight to behold.