8-18th November, various times, prices and venues, Glasgow. Tel: 0141 354 0544.
www.sonic-a.co.uk
VIDEO: Sonica 2012 official promo
Bloody hell... they've started putting up posters for pantomimes in bus shelters. Pantomimes starring egotistical radio DJs, reality show failures, televisual embarrassments, and John Barrowman (does that guy EVER turn down work?). Fear not, though, as a new festival is about to rescue us from this annual saturation of the arts, for now at least.
Sonica showcases the most exceptional practitioners of 'sonic art' — an emerging genre that fuses audio and visuals. Produced by Glasgow-based art house Cryptic, this ten-day event features both intimate and large-scale productions, screenings and exhibitions, at venues across the city.
"With sonic art you don’t just hear the sound, you see it and feel it too. It’s immersive, it’s visual, and it’s about performance," said Sonica co-curator and artistic director Cathie Boyd.
"Over the next few months and years you’ll hear a lot more about Sonica, and we’re proud to launch it in Glasgow, a fantastic city at the cutting edge of culture."
Among an exciting array of domestic and international talent on the bill is Claudia Molitor, whose piece Remember Me — a multi-sensory, miniature opera staged inside a desk — is presented at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Scotland Street School Museum tonight.
"Sonica is the perfect platform for Remember Me, because it, like the festival, is a joyous and curious exploration into sonic and visual possibilities," said Molitor.
Other programme highlights include Justé Janulyté’s Sandglasses, in which four cellists are shrouded in transparent columns, and Our Contemporaries, by Mookyoung Shin, which involves hundreds of tapping fingers.
Quite clearly, the only antidote to pantomime despair is Sonica — the most avant-garde event this side of the Fringe, and a welcome addition to Glasgow’s artistic repertoire.
———
Click here for more Music
Click here to follow clarkspeak on Twitter
Click here to follow clarkspeak on Facebook
