By Peter Maddern
In this complex and multi-faceted piece, Adelaide based composer David Kotlowy has laboured to present a work that combines not only Australian and Asian musicians and aesthetics but also a production that combines these influences across technological eras.
Kotlowy himself sets that tone in the first of the four main pieces, or series of visual and sonic vignettes, with his journey across the Space stage playing the shakuhachi before multiplying and manipulating its tones through electronic means. The five piece Gamelan in situ then answer his call from the opposite pole of the stage, their delicate touches perhaps overwhelmed by the amplification adopted. Between them, Juno Oka creates his wave like visuals on four coffin like boxes around which Ade Suharto and Shin Sakuma periodically mesmerise with their dance.
Thus Patina evolves almost into a hypnotic work that speaks not only of the transient beauty of nature but also those senses of imperfection, the other world of memory and our fragile position in it all.
Being in a contemplative mood will certainly elevate the effect of Patina and help summon up the appreciation of the conception and performance the work deserves.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
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