Show Pony—The Very First
Saturday afternoon saw us Catalysts take over The Edge’s auditorium for some good old-fashioned self-indulgence. We set ourselves up smack bang in the middle of the room, whipped out some toys (quite literally in Sandra’s case), and got to work doing what we do best. It was The Edge’s very first Show Pony event and it was birthed to give everyone an idea of what we can do.
Our afternoon began with music from Andrew Curnock piped into the auditorium. Andrew is a sound artist and Catalyst who lends himself to digital media, spending his time designing game soundtracks and the like. He works under the moniker of Beat Therapy and we were treated to some of these creations while we warmed up to the event.
I, for the duration of the event, filled the position of Master of Ceremonies (or MC for those born later than the 1950s). At The Edge I’m the journalism Catalyst but unfortunately journalism isn’t a particularly engaging performance art, so I ended up as MC.
Now before I get into the afternoon’s performances I feel obliged to describe the rather eclectic scene we created within the space. We had Jaymis, Catalyst and visualist extraordinaire, set up with laptop, a vast array of cables and interfaces, and several tiny cameras. He produced some pretty awe-inspiring projections throughout Show Pony using just these tiny cameras and an array of effects.
Show Pony Number 1 from The Edge on Vimeo.
Catalyst Sandra, a kinetic sculptor and artist, arrived with a box of clockwork toys and a map of the world to a crowd of bemused faces. She set up and explained how her background in physiotherapy fed her passion for kinetics (movement) and her creativity helped her explore some very original applications of wind-up toys (i.e. toy soldiers marching on a map of the world from the US to Asia to create a narrative play space). You can play with this idea at her upcoming workshops.
Catalyst Sandra, a kinetic sculptor and artist, arrived with a box of clockwork toys and a map of the world to a crowd of bemused faces. She set up and explained how her background in physiotherapy fed her passion for kinetics (movement) and her creativity helped her explore some very original applications of wind-up toys (i.e. Toy soldiers marching on a map of the world from the US to Asia to create a narrative play space). You can play with this idea at her upcoming workshops.
Time for the performances. Writer, academic, musician and Catalyst, Ian Rogers, kicked us off with some drone metal. Ian’s special blend of noise and rhythm is created using Abelton Live software and some clever patching. If you’re intrigued by this poor explanation of Ian’s practice come along to one of his workshops at The Edge; he’ll show you exactly how it’s done.
Andrew Gibbs was up next. A Catalyst and an audio-visual performance artist, his music usually resides in the glitch, break-beat style but we had him performing an ambient set. While it was his first ambient gig you would have never known, as he pulled it off with the poise and grace of a seasoned ambient professional. He even whipped out some impressive visuals to match.
The evening wrapped up with two-piece local act, Card House, dishing out an energetic display of electric indie pop. Even mid-set technical difficulties couldn’t dull their energy and they brought the evening to a fitting (and lively) conclusion.
And that’s that. The first-ever Show Pony wrapped up and the crowd dissolved away. Don’t worry, this wasn’t a one-off. These events are happening every Saturday in The Edge Auditorium and we’ll have performances from all kinds of Edge partners. Check out the calendar for more info.
