Music and art collide at UQ

A concert composed by two University of Queensland students that combines music, visual art and electronics will open at the UQ Art Museum this month.

Light Play is a 90-minute program with acoustic instruments and vocals combined with touchscreen-controlled electronic soundscapes.

The program has been developed in response to the UQ Art Museum’s Light Play: Ideas, Optics, Atmosphere exhibition, which explores the diverse approaches contemporary artists are adopting in response to the elemental phenomenon of light.

Composers and UQ School of Music students Ben Heim and Connor D’Netto, known as Argo, have created a series of works to guide the audience through the exhibition – placing musical art alongside visual art including photographs, light boxes, works in neon, light-emitting sculptures, paintings with light-inflected surfaces and a digital hologram.

Mr Heim said the concert would also feature a collection of emerging Brisbane performers.

“The music draws equal influence from the artwork’s visual patterning and colour as from the ideas and emotion embodied in the art,” he said.

“Throughout, the audience is encouraged to experience the event from anywhere in the room – moving freely around the space following musical, visual and artist ideas at their leisure.”

UQ Art Museum Director Dr Campbell Gray said with an outstanding music school on the museum’s doorstep, there were many exciting possibilities for collaboration.

“We’ve had music composed for our exhibitions, and various groups and individuals from the School have performed for us at our exhibitions,” he said.

“We’ve worked closely with accomplished students to establish quite exciting events and atmospheres.

“It’s a pleasure to work with talented musicians, such as Connor and Ben of Argo, and I look forward to future collaborations that will enable us to produce quite wonderful moments in visual and aural experience.”

State manager of the concert’s sponsor, Musica Viva Australia, Lachlan Snow said he believed that the pairing of chamber music with complimentary art forms in a relaxed and informal environment was key to introducing new audiences to the delights of live performance.

The free event will be held at the UQ Art Museum on Friday, 30 October at 6.30pm, followed by a post-concert function. Register your attendance.

Watch a promotional video of the concert here.

Media: Sonia Uranishi, sonia@soniauranishicommunication.com, +61 409 387 623; or Sebastian Moody, s.moody@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 8761.