Light Source performance evening

In conjunction with the Drill Hall Gallery’s exhibition Light Source and in acknowledgement of light’s unpredictable and uncontainable energy, the Drill Hall Gallery presents a series of short performances by artists Dirk de Bruyn, Ross Manning, Nicci Haynes and Sebastian Field. Centring on light’s ability to illuminate or abstract, these iterative, improvised performances incorporate sound, film, projection and light.

In Light Source the phenomenological experience of expanded cinema meets the immersive possibilities of light projection. The utopian opportunities opened up by Len Lye’s 1935 hand-painted film A Colour Box are taken up with gusto by a multi-generational pool of artists. Together these artists celebrate the role of light, projection and performance in connection to the history and continuity of abstract and expanded cinema.

Dirk de Bruyn’s improvised performance I1234m (I want to free form) uses 16 mm film projectors, mirrors and torch light to displace light and sound altering the viewer’s relationship to the surrounding gallery space. De Bruyn is a Dutch-born Australian filmmaker, curator, writer and academic whose work in film spans five decades. His experimental work blurs the boundaries between fiction, documentary, animation, found footage, materialist, structuralist, personal, performative, political and culturally sensitive filmmaking.

Ross Manning performs live, drawing intricate soundscapes from custom-built objects and mechanical automations. Manning is a Brisbane based multi-media artist known for his exploration of the human relationship to technology. His kinetic sculptures and atmospheric installations made from everyday objects set up interactions between light, sound, and their physical surroundings.

Nicci Haynes and Sebastian Field will present Glass Thing a performance of improvised projections and sonic explorations. Here Field’s haunting synths and ambient guitar intertwine with Haynes’s mesmerizing visuals, creating a dynamic interplay of sound and image, the one riffing off the other. Nicci Haynes is a Canberra based artist working with drawing, animation, performance, dance, installation, books and many other art forms. Sebastian Field is a seasoned musician with more than 10 years of experience composing, performing and touring original music.

Image: Ainslie Salon, 2022. Improvised sound, various artists; projections by Nicci Haynes. Image: Andrew Sikorski