Response to Bow Gamelan Ensemble Great Noises that Fill the Air by Saskia Singer

Having just joined the Student Curatorial Team, receiving an email looking for students to participate in a workshop involving experimental sound and performance, I was really excited by this prospect. It included many ideas that I had recently been thinking about, but had been unaware of how to start without any real experience.

We met as a group with Anne and Richard, to look around the exhibition and to get a feel for their ethos. The documentation in the upstairs gallery, provided a really fascinating insight into the energy that would be experienced at one of their performances in the 80’s. I felt inspired by the hectic chaos of the mass of photos and bright lights flashing with the sudden burst of sound shaking the room from wide, industrial thunder sheets. This was the most passionate I had felt from any of the exhibitions that I have seen in the Cooper Gallery so far, and couldn’t wait to see how the next two days would unfold in the lead up to the performance.

We had two days to practice together using an array of children’s toys and creating a ‘semi’ set list involving lighting directed by ourselves using strobes and torches. The DIY accessibility of it all was genius and made me ask, ‘why haven’t I thought to do this?’ Giant weather balloons filled with luminous, neon green glow sticks with harmonicas attached becoming instruments in themselves. A collection of glass funnels suspended with vibrators and torches attached, making the most beautiful sounds as they rattled off each other.

   W0B, Nalemag 2, 2018. Performance with DJCAD students Conor Gray, Calum Ingram, Julian Larrainzar, Jek McAllister, Stella Rooney and Saskia Singer. Photo by Eoin Carey.

The overall experience was extremely provocative, nerve wracking, and stimulating in different ways. Performing on the night in front of a packed room, knowing that we hadn’t went through the performance entirely and had no idea of how it would look or sound for their retrospective was terrifying. But as soon as the first sounds started, it went stunningly and was incredible to watch it evolve. The ideas have massively influenced my practice and has given me the confidence and push to incorporate the use of sound in my own work.

W0B, Nalemag 2, 2018. Performance with DJCAD students Conor Gray, Calum Ingram, Julian Larrainzar, Jek McAllister, Stella Rooney and Saskia Singer. Photo by Eoin Carey.    

Saskia Singer
March 2019

Bow Gamelan Ensemble Great Noises That Fill The Air took place at Cooper Gallery 27 October – 15 December 2018.