I went to a performance of Terra Nova by DJ Spooky (aka That Subliminal Kid, aka Paul D. Miller) at the Dartmouth Hopkins Center, which had commissioned the work (I'll put this in Norwich for it to show up on the map, even thought it was across the river in the granite state). DJ Spooky spent a few months in Antarctica recording sounds, absorbing the environment and composing music. His original score was performed live by a quartet of strings and piano, with Spooky mixing and remixing live, as well as layering in electronic variations of piece, all of this with a large screen multimedia presentation exploring climate change, frontier, and exploration. It was very interesting. The music was beautiful, and there were brilliant audio-visual moments.

From the artist's statement: "Sinfonia Antarctica will be an acoustic portrait of a rapidly transforming continent made of ice and condensation." Read more at: http://www.djspooky.com/art/terra_nova.php.

 

DJ Spooky