Episodes 3 & 4

by Garth Paine

Episodes 3 &4 are two of a series of seven electroacoustic works that were originally written for an interactive telepresence dance performance with Company in Space. A level of the score was generated in realtime based on the movement of the dancer, using David Rokeby’s Very Nervous System, and some MAX and Supercollider patches. The original performance was in Melbourne Australia, before the work toured to SIGGRAPH 98 in Orlando Florida, the "Dowloading Downunder" festival, Amsterdam, Holland and the "Dance Umbrella" Festival, London, England.

Episodes 3 & 4 examine the many levels of communication possible between two people (in this case dancers) who are physically distant, yet occupy the same virtual space, and sustain a detailed and intimate exchange both vocally and physically.

In approaching this work I asked the questions:

"how does the abstraction of the human form into binary data streams effect the reality of a recognisable presence?" and "in what way in that presence altered through the transmission to, and reconstituted of that data stream on the other side of the world?" A number of synthesis approaches is applied to vocal statements dealing with the idea of communication and the Mind/Body divide, so prevalent within western society. I see the Mind/Body divide as one of the principle driving factors of the fast growing web based escapist adventures. The web being the ultimate escape. Instant access to a Nirvana of the mind.

I have made these works for dance as a way of addressing my belief that the body is fundamental to human existence. It is through the body that we have sensation, movement and expression, we hear, see, smell and touch – who would be without those things?

Garth Paine – Composer, Sound Designer, Installation Artist

Garth Paine is a freelance composer, sound designer and installation artist. He has been commissioned extensively in both Australia and the United Kingdom, producing original compositions and sound designs for over twenty film, theatre and dance productions in the last seven years. Commissions include works for Zootango Theatre Company, Terrapin Puppet Theatre, Queensland Theatre Company, Playbox Theatre Company and Company in Space in Australia. His work in the UK (1992-93) included commissions by the highly acclaimed British dance-theatre company Second Stride on Why Things Happen (1992), Fast and Dirty (1993), and Escape at Sea (1993). He was sound designer on the London West End production of Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and was associated with the works of choreographers Siobhan Davies, Lloyd Newson, Ian Spink, Ashley Page and Lynn Seymour. Whilst in the UK, he had works premiered at the Institute for Contemporary Arts, London, and had the good fortune of being assistant to composer Kevin Volans.

In 1999 he will be in residence at the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung (State Institute for Music Research - SIM) in Berlin, funded by Arts Victoria through their International Exchange Program.

September 1996 saw his Intelligent Interactive Virtual Environment installation MQM exhibited at Linden Gallery in Melbourne, creating a virtual video and audio environment controlled by the movement and behaviour patterns of people within it. This work led to a series of installation, the most recent, MAP 1 will tour in 1999 as a solo exhibition to, Berlin (Germany), Linz (Austria) and Wellington (New Zealand).

In recent years his work has become increasingly involved with the design of sound and interactive exhibitions in museums and galleries. These include the Gallery of Life and the Immigration Museum for the Museum of Victoria, the Australian Jewish Museum, the Performing Arts Museum, and the Eureka Stockade Centre.

As a composer, programmer and installation artist he has collaborated with Company in Space on a number of Telepresence, Interactive Dance works which have been featured at festivals such as; SIGGRAPH (USA), Dance Umbrella (UK), Downloading Downunder (Amsterdam), Next Wave (Australia), The Melbourne International Festival (Australia), and Art Rage (Australia).

His formal training includes a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, and a two year Sound Engineering Trainee-ship with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He has been Lecturer in Electronic Music at the Conservatorium of Tasmania and RMIT, Melbourne.

Garth utilises a range of composition tools from the high end computer synthesis programs such as Supercollider and MAX/ MSP to acoustic instruments and found objects. He has a fascination with the manipulation of found sounds, their spatialisation and reference within a human context.