VOCALISING THE POST-HUMAN

Forum: Philip Brophy
Performances by Que Nguyen, Kusum Normoyle, Zoe Scoglio and Paul Dorneau
Saturday 17 October
5.00-8.00pm. $10 entry.

'The voice is corrupted by being human. The evolutionist assumption that ‘voice’ inevitably implicates a human producer limits the potential breadth of its definition.' (Philip Brophy)

Vocalising the Post-Human is a night dedicated to the repositioned role of the human voice. The forum will include a critical discussion by Philip Brophy, followed by performances from Que Nguyen, Kusum Normoyle, Zoe Scoglio and Paul Dorneau.

PHILLIP BROPHY
After releasing numerous records and CDs on the new music label INNOCENT and the pop label PRESENT, Philip Brophy created SOUND PUNCH to focus on his film music and audiovision projects. The label also features his collaborations Ph2 and LAZY3. His most recent work involves live music performed to films and videos, such as the BEAUTIFUL CYBORG series and the avant-garde silent films AUREVELATEUR and KISSED. Other live quadraphonic performances are THE CAVERN OF DEEP TONES and THE PLANETS. His current live/studio projects in development include the ongoing FLUORESCENT series of video installations; the live surround-sound performances VOICELESS and I AM PIANO; the live rock event performance STADIUM.

Philip Brophy has scored the feature BODY MELT and sound-designed the feature MALLBOY as well as numerous shorts. In this field Brophy specializes in Dolby Surround applications and contemporary soundscapes. Most SOUND PUNCH releases are encoded in Dolby Surround. The label has also now made availale DVD-Rs of all of the original quadraphonic mixes of his projects. He was also instigator and director of the CINESONIC International Conference on Film Scores & Sound Design held annually in Melbourne, and has edited 3 books from the conference published by the Australian Film TV & Radio School. Having created the Soundtrack stream in Media Arts at RMIT, Melbourne, he continues to lecture and present on film sound and music internationally.

As a writer and speaker on music, Philip Brophy specializes in three interlocking areas: (i) the film soundtrack; (ii) pop/rock record production; and (iii) the history of experimental noise and sound. He is widely published in all three areas internationally and has written columns and occasional articles for THE WIRE, London. He is a regular contributor of sound articles to FILM COMMENT, New York. His recent books include 100 MODERN SOUNDTRACKS for the British Film Institute, London - also translated into Japanese and published by Film Art, Tokyo. He has also produced radio such as the series TRACES OF SOUNDTRACKS, commissioned for ABC Classical-FM, Australia.

Que Nguyen is currently studying Honours in Sound at RMIT. She is interested in the use of voice within stereo/surround composition and live performance, with the intentions to playfully circumvent and subvert the usual associations voice has within music. As the co-founder of the Within Earshot collective, she curated and organised 'Displacement' for LA 9 and 'Interplay', showcasing collaborations between established and emerging sound artists. She is the Funding Panel Convener at RMIT Union Arts and is also a member of the 'After Hours' committee for West Space Gallery. Various forms of her work ranging from solo, collaboration to sound design has been presented at LA 5, LA 9, Next Wave Festival, ACMI, MIAF, MIFF and the Conical Gallery Sound series.

Kusum Normoyle is a musician who works with extended and extreme vocal technique in performance and electronic media practice. Her sound incorporates dense texture, rapid shifts in dynamic, referencing screamo and noise music to create a brutal sonic space. Completing a Bachelor of Electronic Arts at University of Western Sydney in 2008, a transfer to RMIT will see her complete an honours sound program with Darrin Verhagen and Philip Samartzis. Across the last 5 years she has developed a professional practice within the national and international noise and experimental music scene that has taken her the major Australian cities and more recently on a solo tour of Japan.

Her collaborators include Marcus Schmickler (Berlin), Robbie Avenaim (Melb), Sean Baxter (Melb), Tim Olive (Japan/Can), Sei (japan) and Lachlan Colqhoun (Syd). She was included in the Sydney component of Liquid Architecture in 2008, a key performer for Electrofringe festival nights (TINA) multiple years, and curated into group sound performances and installations at Sydney’s ICAN and Firstdraft galleries. 2009 see’s Kusum as the director for Within Earshot’s collective events and performs weekly throughout the events in the Melbourne and Sydney sound community.

Paul Dornau is a musician, composer, teacher and visual artist. His expertise includes music theatre and dance accompaniment, film soundtracks and installation soundscapes. Paul has performed extensively around Australia in the six-piece musical act Croque Monsieur as well as the experimental garage/surf outfit, Johnnie and the Johnnie-Johnnies.

Zoë Scoglio is a media artist and performer who creates video and sound for public, performance based and site-specific outcomes. Her current work involves spontaneous collaborations and explorations into transformation and ritual. Zoë is a founding member of artist run initiative, Tape Project and has exhibited in diverse places both near and far. Zoe and Paul will be performing in Mexico and North America later this year.