Serpent Songs / Windshadows
Gerard Crewdson
20 Jun–7 Jul 2018
For SOUND SERIES 2018, Gerard Crewdson presented site-specific acoustic sound sculptures. The centrepiece of the exhibition was a natural horn, nearly 5 metres long, made from a single hollow tube (like a didgeridoo) and played with a mouthpiece (like a Swiss alphorn). The horn resembled a ‘serpent’ – not only the creature – but also the instrument of that name which was the predecessor of the modern-day tuba.
Low brass instruments have traditionally been associated with raising the voices of the dead in both Western and non-Western cultures. These are the ‘serpent songs’ of the title but also the ‘windshadows’ – a compound word taken from a Paul Celan poem, Weiss Und Leicht / White and Light. This might be read as a wind of shades, of ghosts, blowing over the genocidal landscape of post WWII Europe.
Blindside stands upon stolen, never ceded Wurundjeri land – a genocidal landscape with its own wind of shades, of ghosts, of voices lost or never heard. Crewdson's other sound sculptures – a ‘Rice Wheel’ and ‘Galileo Drum’ – generate sound through gravity-produced falling motion, thereby also acknowledging the Wurundjeri ground upon which the gallery and surrounding city, stand.
For Sound Series 2018, Gerard Crewdson presents site-specific acoustic sound sculptures.
This program takes place on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded - this land is stolen land. We pay respects to Wurundjeri Elders, past, present and emerging, to the Elders from other communities and to any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders who might encounter or participate in the program.
Gerard Crewdson, born in New Zealand/Aoteoroa in 1954 is a dual New Zealand/Australian citizen. Over a nomadic career of collaboration, now spanning over 40 years, Gerard Crewdson has developed a highly personal experimental and interdisciplinary practice. After graduating from Sydney University College of the Arts in 1992, Gerard developed 3D printmaking and paper-making processes using plant-based and recycled materials to create sculptural work. A musician and performer, specialising in low brass (trombone and tuba), Gerard has been a member of Braille Collective, New Zealand; Splinter Orchestra, Sydney and Pyramid Club, New Zealand. Exploring non-hierarchical, open-ended, group composition and improvisation, he is currently creating bicycle mounted illuminated sculptures with Lucid Dream Bike, New Zealand.
Opening Performance by Gerard Crewdson / Jeff Henderson / Dale Gorfinkel
Opening Night, Thursday 21 June, 6–8pm
Gerard Crewdson creates a live sound track for TERRIBILITA, a visual narrative from Cinema of the Poor. Gerard will play a tenor trombone, soprano trombone and other acoustic noise-makers.
Improvised Music and Performance
Friday 22 June, 6-8pm: Gerard Crewdson / Jeff Henderson / Dale Gorfinkel / Sage Pbbt / Adam Simmons
Saturday 23 June, 6-8pm: Gerard Crewdson / Jeff Henderson / Nat Grant / Sean Baxter / Jenny Ruth Barnes / The Charles Ives Singers
Daily Performances by Gerard Crewdson: 4-5pm
Tuesday 26 to Saturday 30 June, + Thursday 5 and Friday 6 July
Closing Performance
Saturday 7 July, 2-4pm: Gerard Crewdson / Antony Riddell / Dale Gorfinkel / Peter Farrar
Extended Performance Program arranged by Jeff Henderson, Audio Foundation New Zealand in partnership with Liquid Architecture.
Liquid Architecture is an Australian organisation for artists working with sound. LA investigates the sounds themselves, but also the ideas communicated about, and the meaning of, sound and listening.
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