COPE Flow 2021 – Bridge Concerto Four Winds Nine Strings

COPE Flow 2021 Week Long Artist Residency @ Four Winds Barragga Bay, NSW

Cross Cultural, Multidisciplinary, Hybrid Art Project facilitated by Gabriela Green Olea

Experimental Sound performance using contact mics, effects pedals and bows. A collaboration with my partner, Raven and our daughter Aida playing the bridge at Four Winds.

Using contact mics, effects, bows, tuning forks and other found object

The bridge at Four Winds sits off in the background behind the stage, unassuming and hidden. If you watched a performance there you would not even notice the bridge or its hidden musical potential.

The bridge sits over a lovely waterhole an ecosystem full of life; frogs, native reeds and water lilies, a resident snake lives next to the bridge. Turkey tail fungi grows on one of the side beams and a kangaroo crosses as I am recording the bridge from a distance. A local built the bridge, he is happy that we appreciated the bridge the sits offside in the background that we regarded the bridge inspecting it in such detail.

I wanted the bridge to become the focal point and the stage to become the background by placing the audience on the stage facing towards the bridge. The audience were encouraged to explore the empty stage and listen to the sound recordings we had previously made bowing the bridge, turning it into an instrument. The audience were unaware that it was the bridge they were hearing. This piece is an exercise in the perceived notion or expectations we place on an object, an individual, a space, or even what we consider music to be. A bridge can be an instrument, a stage can be an auditorium and the audience can become the event.